Microplastics in the Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest ocean in the world. On the west, it is bound by the North and South American continents while on the east, it is bound by the European and African continents. It has the largest meridional extent of all oceans as it stretches from the Arctic in the north to the Antarctic in the south.

Within the Atlantic Ocean, oceanic phenomena which are of interest when discussing the issue of plastic pollution are the sub-tropical gyres (well-known accumulation zones for plastics) and upwelling ecosystems (‘biota-rich’ zones). Along the western coastline of Africa are the Canary and Benguela upwelling ecosystems which are both vitally important ecosystems. Although, data exists about microplastics in the sub-tropical gyres of the Atlantic Ocean, very little was known about microplastics and their potential interactions with marine organisms at upwelling regions in the Atlantic Ocean.

In November 2015, I participated in the Floating Summer School on Biological Oceanography onboard the German icebreaker RV Polarstern. This PS95 expedition or the North/South Atlantic Training Transect (NoSoATT) left Bremerhaven, Germany and traveled to Cape Town, South Africa. As the vessel traversed the waters of the Atlantic, I along with the other participants were trained in various aspects of Biological Oceanography. I also had the opportunity to sample the sub-surface waters along the NoSoATT for microplastics.