FAU Harbor Branch received a $100,000 award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to create the “Keep the Sea Free of Debris” Junior Ambassador Program. The program aims to teach children in underserved communities about the effects of litter and marine debris and empower them to be advocates for the ocean and inspire environmental stewardship. FAU Harbor Branch is
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Anglo-Norwegian R&D company Ladar Ltd. has developed a compact LADAR (laser detection and ranging) system that can supercharge plastic detection capabilities for end-users involved in everything from environmental research and monitoring to marine cleanup campaigns and harvesting plastic for recycling. Huge amounts of plastic waste get dumped into our oceans every year, despoiling not only coastlines but triggering the agglomeration
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Following a five-week clean-up on Aldabra Atoll, one of Seychelles’ UNESCO World Heritage Site, where 25 tonnes of marine plastic litter was removed, researchers at Oxford University have estimated that the cost to clean up the entire island is approximately $4.68 million, requiring 18,000 person‐hours of labor. This is the largest accumulation of plastic waste reported for any single island in
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The mass of “invisible” microplastics found in the upper waters of the Atlantic Ocean is approximately 12 to 21 million tonnes, according to research published in the journal Nature Communications. Significantly, this figure is only for three of the most common types of plastic litter in a limited size range. Yet, it is comparable in magnitude to estimates of all plastic waste that
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By Devin Partida Microplastics are very tiny pieces of plastic either created intentionally for abrasive purposes or formed from larger pieces of decomposed plastic. They’re small enough to infest natural underwater vegetation or be eaten by wildlife. As such, microplastics pose a significant threat to our oceans and marine conservation efforts. In the past, microplastics were removed by placing filters in
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By Devin Partida Everything from shopping bags to toys contains plastic, and the material remains widespread around the world. Unfortunately, only 9 percent of all plastic gets recycled. A related issue is that many of the varieties used today have chemical makeups that prevent full decomposition. These realities mean that plastics in the ocean is a major problem, polluting the
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