Comments on: SEAPLEX Day 9 Part 1

By: Winning Haikus! « SEAPLEX

Winning Haikus! « SEAPLEX — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:47:15 +0000

[...] 2nd PLACE –Along the currents. Drift plankton and trash alike. Our New Horizon. — Matt Durham [...]

By: SEAPLEX Day 14 « SEAPLEX

SEAPLEX Day 14 « SEAPLEX — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 19:56:24 +0000

[...] flying fish-eyed view of the gyre. Doug Woodring from Project Kaisei, Mario Aguilera from Scripps, Matt Durham the resident technician, and I (I’m Miriam, the chief scientist) got our dip nets and our coolers [...]

By: Yara Medina

Yara Medina — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:48:24 +0000

Its Just Amazing What You Guys Find! :] Im Glad You Guys Are Doing This And Letting People Know About Whats Happening Out There…

By: Alison Cawood

Alison Cawood — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:16:21 +0000

The same things could happen to people. Depending on the size and shape of the piece of plastic, it could pass through the digestive system or become lodged in the digestive tract. If it were to become lodged, it would have to be surgically removed so that nutrients and water could continue to pass through the digestive system.

By: Alison Cawood

Alison Cawood — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:12:03 +0000

I have no idea how to clean up the plastics, but applied science isn’t really my area. Hopefully, there are engineers out there who can come up with ingenious ways to go about it.

As far as the biology goes, I do have some ideas. It is entirely possible that population structures are being influence by the plastic. There is very little natural substrate in the middle of the ocean, so organisms that rely on it are not very abundant. With an increase in available substrate, it is entirely possible that those populations will increase. This is definitely thought to be the case in coastal areas where fouling communities are found. There is also some concern that the plastic substrate could act as a transport method for invasive species. If long lived coastal species are attached to the plastics, not only are they being transported into the middle of the ocean where they do not belong, but there is also a greater chance for transporting them to other coastal areas where they do not belong.

By: MichaelH

MichaelH — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:03:43 +0000

The more I see of the results, the more I despair over the prospect of cleanup / recovery of the plastic debris without harming the organisms which are colonizing and living in the debris. I know in industry we used electrostatics to separate plastic debris – impossible in an ocean environment, and filtering seems non-viable as well since it would catch both the debris and living organisms. Any thoughts on this, and how it might be “cleaned up”? And any theories on how this debris may be contributing to more organisms rather than less due to the increased availability of “nesting” and egg laying sites, and what the potential impact of increased populations of these organisms may have?
The finds thus far have been VERY interesting, and I look forward to what you team determines and feels the impacts of the “trash gyres” in the oceans have, including any theories (both official and unofficial) which may be bandied about regarding cleanup and impacts.

By: Johnny

Johnny — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:16:02 +0000

would it have the same effect if people were to accidentally eat plastic too ?

By: Alison Cawood

Alison Cawood — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:04:41 +0000

They have some winds and some sea swell, but so far the science hasn’t been impacted.

By: shasta daisy

shasta daisy — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 02:11:22 +0000

That transparent squid…WOW! What else can I say!

By: kassandra Pedraza

kassandra Pedraza — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:54:26 +0000

how is the weather over there??