Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation

Michael Wiest and Regina Wang

Archipelagos:

- marine conservation institute on a Greek island- about 30 interns at a time from many different countries

What we did in Greece:-Surveys (terrestrial & marine)-Necropsy (golden jackal)-Jackal surveys (Emily’s work)-Wildlife Library

Main Project:-Microplastics!

Terrestrial Surveys: Chameleons!

And: hedgehogs and terrapins

Marine surveys:-Underwater visual census

Awesome Cuttlefish!

And finally:

MICROPLASTICS!!!

What are microplastics?

• Plastic fragments <5mm (>500µm)

• Typically: polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride

• plastic resin pellets, plastic products, plastic product fragments, fibres, rubber, Styrofoam, plastic sheets and sponges

Source and prevalence• Macroplastics: fishing

gear, industrial production, littering, and waste effluent

• Microplastics: result from photo, thermo-oxidative, bio, and physical degradation. Chemicals contain them. Shipping

• Found on all 6 continents• Accumulate in high

pressure areas (gyres)

Broader Implications

• Plastics resist biodegradation due to short biological timespan

• Can accumulate in organisms• Microplastics accumulate

Persistent Organic Pollutants (polychlorinated biphenyl, Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDT), Biphenol A)

Archipelagos past research• 18 H. forskali and 4 H. tubulosa sampled:– 24 hour sampling period– Plastics found in all samples (max 32 fibres)

• 114 beach sites in 2009, 49 sites in 2011.– Plastics at all sites– Max concentration was 112 fibres/sample

Methodology

• Sediment:– Add saturated NaCl soln. Agitate and let settle– Filter and analyze through microscope.

• Holothurians:– Keep in filtered sea water 24 hrs.– Return to sea. Agitate and filter sea water.

Analyze

Ongoing research• Altered methodology for mass

measurements• Take sediment samples at depth rather than

distance from shore.• Added sampling in proximity of Holothuria

for concentration comparison• Sampling sites on Samos and six sites on

Oinousses• Regina analyzed fish guts to study travel

through trophic levels.

Sediment results

Total plastics at depth Average plastics at depth

Fibe

rs

Fibe

rs

Fibe

rs/g

ram

sed

imen

tHolothuria results

Concentration difference (Holothuria)

Some pictures of fun times!

Some pictures of fun times!

Some pictures of fun times!

Some pictures of fun times!