Page 14: of Marine Technology Magazine (January 2013)

First Person studying plastic pollution need more than mere pool nets to get an accurate measurement of just how much plastic is in the ocean. To solve the problem of plastics in our ocean, or even just to study it, oceanographic technology needs to be conscious of the emerging science. Surface Nets The Þ rst studies of plastic pollution began in the early 1970s when researchers with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institu- tion (WHOI) threw a rectangular net into the coastal waters of New England to collect organisms residing in the surface waters of the ocean, called the neuston layer. The net they used was one that had been developed less than 10 years before by oceanographers frustrated by previous nets that were towed from a vesselÕs stern. This rectangular net, aptly called a Òneuston net,Ó was released adjacent to the ves- sel and was supported by a boom that could be lowered and raised. The advantage of it being deployed adjacent to the ship minimized any interference bow waves might have on the or- ganisms it was sampling. Along with different organisms, the team found two types of polystyrene spherules. These spherules, still used today, become Styrofoam when mixed with a foaming agent. Even in the 1970s, the implications of plastic debris were recorded in the scientiÞ c literature. Of the 14 species of Þ sh recovered in the nets, eight were found with plastics in their stomachs. The scientists also determined that the spherules had absorbed polychlorinated bisphenyls (PCBs) from the sea water. Re- The SSV Robert C Seamans , a 134 ft. brigantine schooner owned and operated by Sea Education Association that has been sampling the North Paci Þ c since 2001. 14 MTRJanuary/February 2013 MTR #1 (1-17).indd 14MTR #1 (1-17).indd 141/28/2013 11:08:24 AM1/28/2013 11:08:24 AM