Sailors and teams competing in last year’s The Ocean Race – a challenge to be the first to cross 60,000km of ocean space – took the opportunity to contribute data and samples to scientific studies on microplastic and microfibre pollution.
Three of the world’s top five hotspots for marine microplastic pollution are in Europe, new data collected by sailors and teams competing in The Ocean Race has revealed, also shedding new light on an overwhelming tendency for microplastics to derive from the microfibres of synthetic clothing and textiles.
It was during the global sailing competition last year in which teams faced one another in a race to navigate 60,000km of ocean space, that water samples were collected from the Atlantic Ocean, southern Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Southern Ocean, and seas around Europe.
Taking the chance to contribute to data collection and analysis, scientists found that every sample gathered during the race contained microplastics, with high concentrations found in some of the most remote parts of the planet, several thousand kilometres from land.
Cutting edge sampling and analysis methods meant that scientists were able to examine microplastics as tiny as 0.03 millimetres – up to ten times smaller than traditional methods allow. This detailed view led to the discovery of a high number of microplastics: on average, 4,789 per cubic metre of water.
The greatest concentration (26,334) was found close to South Africa, followed by the edge of the English Channel close to Brest, France (17,184), then another point close to South Africa (14,976), followed by the Balaeric Sea (14,970) and in the North Sea offshore Denmark (14,457). Microplastics captured ranged from 0.03 millimetres to 4.6 millimetres in size.
In an extension of the study, scientists from the National Oceanography Centre in the UK and University of Rhode Island in the USA analysed the samples to determine the type of plastic product they had originated from. They found that an overwhelming average of 71% of the microplastics in the samples were, in fact, microfibres from materials such as polyester that had been released into the environment from washing machines (through wastewater); dryers (into the air); direct shedding from clothing; degradation of textiles littered in the environment; and from discarded fishing gear.
The findings from this study are being shared at a crucial time for the final decision on plastic pollution in the ocean. Right now, meetings are taking place between business leaders, NGOs, and heads of state and nation representatives to commit to paper a legally-binding Global Plastic Treaty. The course that these discussions take this week in the Republic of Korea will be a deciding factor on the ambition of that global treaty to turn the tide on ocean plastic pollution and microplastics.
“These results mark a significant development in the global studies of ocean microplastics. For the first time, we have been able to measure tiny particles, as small as 0.03 millimetres, and determine not just their prevalence, but also identify the type of product that they originated from,” said Victoria Fulfer, a lead-author on the research at the time with the University of Rhode Island but now a microplastics scientist at the 5 Gyres Institute.
Fulfer added: “We were shocked to discover such high numbers of microplastics. Less is known about these tiny particles, but there is potential that smaller microplastics will be more harmful to marine life and human health, as very small microplastics are capable of penetrating cells and tissues.
“Worldwide sampling efforts, like those conducted by The Ocean Race, are key to refining global models of microplastic pollution distribution and identifying new pollution hotspots.”
Data gathered during The Ocean Race 2022-2023 was collected by two 60-foot foiling International Monohull Open Class Association sailing vessels using an on-board sampling unit. A special filter system designed to collect plastic particles between 0.03mm and 5mm, the unit works by drawing water in and through filters over a two-hour period. New samples were taken each day by sailors and provided to the National Oceanography Centre for analysis, with support from the University of Rhode Island.
“As sailors, for many years we have shared our experiences of seeing a growing amount of plastic debris in remote parts of the planet,” said Richard Brisius, race chairman for The Ocean Race. “Now, through our science programme, we have the data to back this up.”
There has been a recent space of headline grabbing discoveries around microplastics found in species throughout the ocean, from plankton to whales. As a knock-on effect, microplastics have been found along the entire marine food chain and in the food we eat.
“There is no doubt that marine plastic is having a devastating effect,” said Brisius. “If urgent action isn’t taken by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee this week, global plastic waste could almost triple, reaching around 1.2 billion tonnes by 2062. We can turn this around, but we must act now.”
The Ocean Race is also contributing scientific data to the Ocean Decade Odyssey project, an endorsed project of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development supporting efforts to reverse the cycle of decline in ocean health and create improved conditions for the sustainable development of the ocean.
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This article was originally published on the website of Oceanographic Magazine.