Adventure Scientists

  • Home
    • About Us >
      • Mission and Values >
        • EIJ Resources
      • Annual Reports and Financials
      • Contact
    • Our Team >
      • Staff
      • Board and Advisors
      • Science Advisory Board
      • Join our Team
      • Our Partners
    • Press >
      • COVID-19 Updates
      • Films
      • Writing
      • Audio
  • For Scientists
    • Our Services >
      • Project Design & Feasibility
      • Project Build
      • Volunteer Recruiting & Screening
      • Full Project Management
    • Scientific Partners
    • Project Reports and Scientific Publications
    • Access Data Sets
  • For Adventurers
    • Volunteer Basics
    • Current Projects >
      • Wildlife Connectivity
      • Timber Tracking
      • Wild and Scenic Rivers
  • Our Impact
    • Past Projects
  • Blog
  • Donate
  • Home
    • About Us >
      • Mission and Values >
        • EIJ Resources
      • Annual Reports and Financials
      • Contact
    • Our Team >
      • Staff
      • Board and Advisors
      • Science Advisory Board
      • Join our Team
      • Our Partners
    • Press >
      • COVID-19 Updates
      • Films
      • Writing
      • Audio
  • For Scientists
    • Our Services >
      • Project Design & Feasibility
      • Project Build
      • Volunteer Recruiting & Screening
      • Full Project Management
    • Scientific Partners
    • Project Reports and Scientific Publications
    • Access Data Sets
  • For Adventurers
    • Volunteer Basics
    • Current Projects >
      • Wildlife Connectivity
      • Timber Tracking
      • Wild and Scenic Rivers
  • Our Impact
    • Past Projects
  • Blog
  • Donate

Welcome to Field Notes

Swimming in a Fleece Jacket?

2/10/2016

 
Story and Photos by Laura K.O. Smith
ASC Microplastics Adventurer
Picture
Commerson's dolphins often bow ride as Ocean Tramp sails the Beagle Channel.
I like to tell people about the issue of microplastics. 

​So as I sat with friends at a Brazilian Churrascaria steakhouse overlooking Sugarloaf Mountain as the sun cast it final rays across Rio de Janeiro, chronicling our latest sailing exploits, I dove in.
My husband and I collect water samples to add to the wider body of microplastics research, working with the
ASC Global Microplastics Initiative, I explained, telling them how much is still unknown, including the distribution and types of microplastics in the water. I told them how nylon clothing including fleece is a contributor of microplastics, as are the “scrubbing” microbeads found in many beauty products. 
Picture
Ocean Tramp passed by Mount Sarmiento as she entered the western entrance to the Straits of Magellan.
I would have continued, but one friend stopped me. “Fleece? In the water? How does it get there?” she asked.

“When you wash it, bits of it shed off, and then go down the drain from your washer,” I said.
 
Her faced turned red. “I thought people were swimming with fleece jackets on,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine so many people doing it that it would be a problem. Now I get it. Of course. My washing machine.”
Anchored for the night in Caleta Brecknock
Anchored for the night in Caleta Brecknock
Sampling the Beagle Channel for ASC
Sampling in the Beagle Channel
view from the mast
Living on the boat in Ushuaia, Argentina and sailing mainly around the southern ocean, we’ve gathered samples from many locations previously blank on ASC’s map, among them the base of a glacier in the Beagle Channel, the middle of the Atlantic, and
​the warm waters off of Brazil. ​
​
Every time we stare into the clear tropical or blue glacial waters, we wonder what the outcome will be, hoping that perhaps this sample might be free of microplastics. Knowing that many are not, we keep collecting so we can continue raising awareness, gathering more data, and perhaps one day understand the problem well enough to be part of finding a solution.

As with many of our world’s problems, awareness and education are half the battle. The very nature of microplastics is a challenge: “Micro” means it is a problem we cannot easily see. 

Aboard our boat, Ocean Tramp, collecting and submitting data is an important piece of what we contribute to ASC. In addition, this work is a catalyst for conversations like this one that we have in ports and anchorages along the way.

Become an Adventure Scientist

Learn more about the Microplastics Project and other ASC projects on our website, the Field Notes blog, and our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+ pages. Learn more about Laura K.O. Smith’s sailing adventures at quixote-expeditions.com.

Comments are closed.

    Read the Landmark Notes blog:

    Picture

    Archives

    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011

Donate Now
STAY IN TOUCH
Picture
Adventure Scientists®
​PO Box 1834, Bozeman, MT 59771
406.624.3320 info@adventurescientists.org