They set sail from the docks of Alicante on January 15 with the intention of competing, but the sailboats participating in the round-the-world sailing tour -The Ocean Race- had another mission: to collect samples during their navigation through the seas, to the ends of the ocean, sometimes crossing waters far removed from shipping lanes, to provide data to the scientific community. Today they have communicated a first and sad conclusion: our seas are full of microplastics.
This was stated by the organization of the regatta in a statement sent this morning. The teams of the 2022-23 edition of the Ocean Race certify the presence of microplastics in the 40 samples analyzed so far, registering up to 1,884 units per cubic meter of water in some parts of the planet.
The samples analyzed in the second stage, starting in Mindelo (Cape Verde) and finishing in Cape Town (South Africa), contained concentrations of microplastics ranging from 92 to 1,884 particles per cubic meter.
These microplastic samples contained levels similar to those collected during the third leg, the longest in the race’s 50-year history, a 12,750-nautical-mile journey through the Southern Ocean. Despite being one of the most remote places on the planet, between 160 and 1,492 pm3 particles were found in the samples collected during this journey, from Cape Town to Itajaà (Brazil).
Microplastics will continue to be collected throughout the total 60,000 kilometers of the race, using an onboard sampling unit consisting of a filter system specially designed to collect plastic particles (between 0.03mm and 5mm), Two teams are on board, GUYOT environment-Team Europe and Team Holcim.
The unit works by drawing water through a filter over a two-hour period to collect microplastics. Fresh samples are taken daily by sailors and, after each leg, they are sent to the National Center for Oceanography (CNO) in the UK for analysis, with support from the University of Rhode Island (USA).
Visiting scientist at the University of Rhode Island at the CNO, Victoria Fulfer, acknowledged that “it is very concerning” that microplastics are being found in all samples, from coastal areas to the most remote regions of the ocean.
“So far, more than half of our samples have more than 500 microplastic particles per cubic meter larger than 0.1mm, and those concentrations increase when we look for even smaller particles. The problem has become widespread and sampling efforts such as those running this regatta are vital in helping us understand the extent of microplastic pollution in the ocean,” he said.
Fulter noted that the samples collected by the teams in The Ocean Race are “unique” because they cover a wide spatial range in a short period of time, “giving scientists a kind of ‘snapshot’ of the state of microplastic contamination in the world oceans by 2023”.
Measurements were higher closer to urban areas, such as around Cape Verde and South Africa, and in areas known as ‘garbage islands’, where ocean circulation causes numerous particles to accumulate.
Stefan Raimund, scientific lead for The Ocean Race, noted that they are learning more and more just how “ubiquitous” microplastics are in the ocean. “They are found in species throughout the marine environment, from plankton to whales, and we ourselves consume them in shellfish and even in our drinking water. Science is the most powerful weapon we have to combat this problem. The data that we collect can help inform and influence businesses and governments to make decisions that can better protect our planet,” he said.
For the first time, Around the World is also examining the chemical structure of plastic particles to help better understand which plastic products end up in the ocean and break down into microplastics. The most abundant chemical found so far is polyethylene, which is used in many products, such as single-use packaging such as plastic bags and bottles.
The Ocean Race science initiative is part of the Racing with Purpose sustainability programme, created in conjunction with 11th Hour Racing. All teams participating in the competition carry various equipment on board that collects data on the impact of human activity on the ocean.
The race leader 11th Hour Racing Team and Team Malizia carry an OceanPack to collect data on climate change and the ocean, while the Biotherm collects data on ocean biodiversity.
The results of this edition of the regatta, which began in Alicante on January 15 and will finish in Genoa (Italy) at the end of June, are significantly higher compared to the microplastics captured during the previous one, in 2017-18.
In that edition, the samples ranged from 50 to 100 pm3, and in this edition the levels are thought to be up to 18 times higher due to an increase in microplastic contamination and improvements in analysis methods and technology. Microplastic fibers, which are incredibly strong, are also discussed in this edition, whereas in 2017-18 they were not.
The Ocean Race contributes scientific data to the Ocean Decade Odyssey project, which is a project supported by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) that supports efforts to reverse the cycle of deterioration of the health of the oceans and create better conditions for the sustainable development of the ocean.
