This past Antarctic season we took some more samples for the
Adventure Science Microplastic Initiative. One of the samples was taken from the middle of the Drake Passage. Sadly there were indeed some plastics in the sample – 10 pieces in one liter!
Results are just in and posted on their blog, along with other recent sample updates including samples from the National Geographic Pristine Seas Initiative. Thanks to any and all of our passengers who helped record data as we collected samples!!! We have collected samples in Antractica, the Beagle Channel, the Chilean Fjords, Isla de los Estados, and the Southern Atlantic Ocean up to Brazil!
Below is the excerpt from the Adventure Science Blog about our samples:
Ocean Tramp
Laura Smith
AntarcticaAboard her ship, Ocean Tramp, Laura collected two samples, which contained 17 pieces of microplastic: eight blue fibers, one red fiber, one clear fiber, four black fibers, one orange fiber, one purple fiber, and one blue fragment.
Laura and her husband, Federico Guerrero, run Quixote Expeditions, a guiding company that sails tourists from Chile’s Cape Horn across Drake Passage to Antarctica. Laura is the expedition leader for Quixote Expeditions and plans all tourist activities during the sailing season. Federico is a longtime sailor and a certified Captain of the ship. When not sailing to Antarctica, Laura and Federico also sail tourists to the Falkland Islands and to Isla de los Estados, in the Argentine portion of Tierra del Fuego. The couple live aboard Ocean Tramp when they’re not leading tours, docking in Ushuaia, Argentina, the so-called “end of the world” on the Tierra del Fuego archipelago.
Thanks to Abby And her team for processing the samples.
Think science is cool? So do we and on each trip we bring a scientist – join us on an upcoming trip