The research vessel SONNE is on mission to investigate the status of marine environmental pollution with micropollutants in the Indian Ocean.
In the endorsed research expedition SO305-2 starting in July 2024, entitled “Pollutants and microplastics in the Indian Ocean”, we plan to provide a first assessment of the pollution status in the Indian Ocean waters between Singapore and Port Louis, focusing on the basin-wide distribution of micropollutants such as estrogens and microplastics.
This research cruise will extend our successfully completed MEGAPOL project (Megacity’s fingerprint in Chinese marginal seas: Investigation of pollutant fingerprints and dispersal) and SOCLIS (SO269 – South China Sea – natural laboratory under climatic and human included stress) projects, as well as the SO296-1 research cruise on the North and South American continental shelf between San Diego and Talcahuano (Chile) in 2023.
Our basic research will deepen the understanding of the increasing anthropogenic pressures on the marine environment and provide the fundamental data needed to establish regulations for the sustainable management and use of the marine and coastal environment. With this research, we contribute to the several outcomes of the Ocean Decade: a clean ocean (1); a healthy and resilient ocean (2); a productive ocean (3); a predictable ocean (4).