'PlasticFlow', the projects that studies the impact of microplastics in the sea

Investigators of the Oceanographic Centre of the Balearics (COB) of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO, CSIC) have completed the first campaign of the project ‘PlasticFlow’ with success with the evaluation of the impacts on pollution by plastics in marine ecosystems in the occidental Mediterranean.

During a month of work, according to the IEO, CSIC in a press release this Monday, August 11th, the scientific team led by investigator Salud Deudero, has treated impacts of microplastics and its relation with global change and biodiversity in the sinus of the PlasticFlow, Esmares 3 and MaLiSat projects.

This way, aboard the oceanographic ship ‘Francisco de Paula Navarro’, the team has covered a wide range of the Spanish peninsular coastline and the Balearics, matching extreme values of heating of the sea, with thermic anomalies up to 5 more degrees.

The work has included quantification, identification and geolocation of floating rubbish, superficial samples and sediment samples take for the tracking of microplastics in the area. 

In addition, samples have been taken up until 200 metres of depth to characterize the planktonic community, as well having determined the temperature, nutrients, pacific matter, chlorophyll, stable isotopes and other polluting elements to different depths. 

The project has also included the ‘in situ validation of remote sensing techniques of floating marine rubbish and artificial intelligence, developed in the mark of the MaLiSat project.

Salud Deudero has pointed out that “this effort marks a historical benchmark in the recollection of pollution and biodiversity data in superficial layers in areas of high winds of synoptic way, being of great interest for the scientific community”.

The PlasticFlow project focuses on the study of plastics transference between marine habitats and organisms, and its effects on the marine environment. 

Specifically, the campaign has studied the abundances and distribution of plastic to value accumulation processes, identifying areas of accumulation, as well as marine species, including neustonic organisms, affected by intake or by retention and accumulation of these microparticles. 

“Sinergies and possible effects combined with climate change and plastic pollution in the marine ecosystems have come into play, contributing to comprehending the plastic cycle as an extension of the biogeochemical carbon cycle, in a context of global accelerated change”, has explained the investigator of Valentina Fagiano’s team.

The boat, which constitutes a platform of oceanic observation, has allowed evaluating the efficiency of equipped satellites with hyperspectral sensors and panchromatic high resolution cameras, such as the Prism mission, to detect and quantify floating rubbish from space. 

In the words of investigator Carme Alomar, these tools “open the door to a global and constant tracking of the marine environment’s state, optimizing resources and improving the planification of conservation politics”.

“This campaign gives answer to the objectives of the describer 10 of the Directive Board upon the Marine Strategy (2008/56/EC), which established the necessity to evaluate the good environmental state of the European seas, taking into account marine rubbish”, has pointed out investigator Beatriz Rios.

Finally, Deudero has highlighted that the compilation of systematic data and the development of advanced methodologies “are key to advance towards a sustainable management of marine ecosystems and mitigating the impact of pollution due to plastics”.

The campaign has counted with national and international investigators, pertaining to the College of las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (CNR-ISMAR), in addition to five students of doctorate and a student of master, marked inside the ESMARES 3 project.

In addition, it is financed by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge for the implementation of the following of Marine Strategies in Spain through IEO and co-financed by the European Union through the Fishing and Aquiculture Maritime European Funds (Fempa).