Day 00 S/V Kaisei: The Beginning
Monday, 3 August 2009
Pt. Richmond, CA
The Project Kaisei Science Team (PKST) would like to start our blog by thanking Mary Crowley and Ocean Voyages Institute for supporting our shipboard time and lab supply costs for our research to be performed on the S/V Kaisei. This is a huge donation since many modern day research vessels can cost up to US $20,000-$40,000 dollars per day, not including lab supply costs. Each member of PKST understands how lucky we are to have this unique opportunity to do oceanographic research on the brigantine S/V Kaisei. By utilizing a sailing vessel for oceanographic research we will conserve fuel by sailing a majority of the time and significantly reduce our research carbon footprint. A typical modern research vessel used in mid ocean studies can expend the same amount of fuel in one hour that the S/V Kaisei. will use in a day while sailing. We will also be among the few people in the world who learn to sail a tall ship!
The Science Plan:
Many studies have documented the role of air, water and sediments in persistent organic pollutant (POP) transport, but few have looked at the role of a relatively new vector, marine debris. Our team will examine the distribution, physical characteristics and ecological consequences of marine debris pollution concentrated in the North Pacific Gyre. Our overarching goal in all of our experiments is to measure the prevalence of synthetic organic polymers, the primary vector for POP intake in the environment in species of concern to humans, namely consumable fish and their prey. The Kaisei team will investigate marine debris accumulation in representative areas of the water column across the North Pacific Gyre, how the surface properties of marine debris change over time at sea, which toxicants adsorb to each type of debris, and which debris-toxin compounds collect in biota. In addition, we will quantify the amount of plastic in tissues of these organisms, as well as the concentration of a number of POPs.
Our material scientists strive to understand how the synthetic organic polymer chemical composition affects marine debris oceanic fate. Questions such as whether different synthetic organic polymer types will attract fouling organisms, sink or float, the speed and pattern in which they break down, and the surface morphology are relevant to understanding oceanic plastic dynamics. Appreciating the attributes that make plastic surfaces favorable to POP attachment may be the key to cleaning up POPs and keeping them out of the food web.
Satellite or airborne remote sensing techniques do not currently exist to track marine plastic debris. The Kaisei team will measure the optical properties of very small particulate plastic, which have the greatest backscatter per unit mass. These measurements will then be used to simulate the reflected radiance that would be observed at the top of the atmosphere in a variety of atmospheric and oceanic conditions. These simulations will be used to assess the potential to remotely sense the location and quantity of marine plastic debris, and if possible, design algorithms to do so.
Along these lines, our ocean cycling scientists will investigate the effect of marine debris on life at the most fundamental level, the carbon cycling system. Using the latest techniques, we intend to uncover correlations between marine debris and changes in POM (particulate organic matter) and DOM (dissolved organic matter) at the surface and in the water column through our sampling area within the Pacific Gyre.
Our ecological toxicology team will study the extent to which POPs attached to marine debris affect organisms throughout the food web. It is now known that plastic resin pellets and broken bits of consumer plastics carry certain classes of POPs in greater concentrations than virgin polyethylene pellets 3-5. Further studies are needed to determine the extent to which these plastic and other marine debris particles transport sorbed pollutants into the food web and determine if future research will be needed to identify how these contaminants affect the human diet.
Project Kaisei believes it is imperative to understand the extent of contamination within the food web and hopefully to find correlations with known monitoring systems to allow predictive mapping of POP sinks. This set of studies will provide important clues into how we will realize practical solutions to prevent further pollution and improve our situation.
#2 Wheel House Reports from the Project Kaisei Science Team (PKST)
Day One- August 4, 2009- Bon Voyage!
Creating Our Space:
When we lost sight of land, the PKST then tackled the arduous task of setting up our lab space. We were happily rewarded with a package from The North Face including warm water-resistant windbreakers and blue beanies. After enjoying a brilliant sunset, the science team and the rest of he crew gathered for man overboard, fire, and other emergency drills. Principle investigator Dr. Andrea Neal and Co-Principle Investigator than shared their experiences with the team from last week in the Sargasso Sea on the Atlantic Explorer with the Ocean Flux Program (OFP) at The Bermuda Institute for Oceanographic Sciences (BIOS) run By Dr. Maureen Conte, Professor at both BIOS and Woods Hole Institute of Oceanographic Research. They relayed the amount of debris that they had seen as well as the infiltration of debris in Bermudas fragile reef systems and beaches. PKST once again thought about Project Kaisei, and all of the amazing individuals on the ship gathered together as one team on one mission to help the one planet that we all share.
#3 Wheel House Reports from the Project Kaisei Science Team (PKST)
Day Two- August 5, 2009- The First Signs
Discovery of Our First Marine Debris:
Early Morning rise and shine at 6:30 am! Our unique team of scientists gathered, On board we have Principle Investigator Dr. Andrea Neal, Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society, Co-Principle Investigator Dr. Michael Gonsior from University of California at Irvine, Dr. Margy Gassel from the California Environmental Protection Agency Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment , Heather Coleman from the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at The University of California at Santa Barbara, Nicole Argyropoulos from Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society and Corinne Hume. Our on-shore support team consists of
PKST started with a meeting to discuss the float plan, points of collection, and the specifics of the marine debris we are seeking. With our onboard lab we will be able to collect and store samples of water and marine debris ranging from marco to nanosized particulates. We will also be able to run experiments on oceanic health and carbon cycling as well as monitoring the very basics like water column profiles that show pH, salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll a. All of these complex sampling and experiments can be one while sailing!
Captain Mike Smith spotted our first piece of marine debris today, located at 36˚21.29 north and 124˚50.220 west at 11:32 AM. The marine debris was a yellow buoy containing a microcosm of gooseneck barnacles and a sea slug. Plucked from their oceanic environment, the gooseneck barnacles, their long peduncles adhered to the buoy, repeatedly extended their cirri, or feeding appendages. We cleaned the buoy and retained it for future analysis. Tomorrow we will be doing our first manta trawl, which is a net that skims the surface gathering surface water for samples. The manta trawl’s main purpose for the science team is to collect marine debris to test in our on-ship lab.
Day Three- August 6, 2009-
Launching of the Manta Trawl:
Stiffing winds allowed us to sail at seven knots and we were joined by two small pods of white-sided dolphins. At 10:41 AM, the science team released the first manta trawl on the port side for one hour of surface trawling. We found small bits of plastic and small silver fish in the mouths inside the underbelly of several by-the-wind-sailors (Vellela vellela) trapped in the manta trawl. The small plastic pieces were collected, placed in a solvent-rinsed vial, and frozen for future analysis in the California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) laboratories. We also took our first surface water samples with a Nisken bottle to study carbon cycling events that we expect will change as we approach the Northwest Pacific gyre.
Day Four- August 7, 2009-
Night Trawl:
We started day four with a midnight trawl that took us into the early morning. Our night trawl was aimed to catch small mesopelagic fish called myctophids (lanternfish) and zooplankton. Myctophids are small mid-water fish that dwell between 200-1000 meters in depth during the day and feed at the surface at night. One of our goals is to examine the incorporation of small marine debris into lower trophic levels of the food web. Myctophids are prevalent throughout the world and representative of zooplanktivores. However, the recent full moon may have provided enough light for them to escape the manta trawl provided by Dr. Marcus Ericson from Algalita Marine Research Foundation. Heather Coleman (soon to be Dr. Coleman) identified the abundance of small fish, baby squid, jellyfish and a plethora of by-the-wind-sailors trapped within the manta trawl. We found a considerably greater amount of marine debris compared to the previous trawl. The haul consisted mostly of plastic and some Styrofoam, and the size dispersion was relatively consistent with the last capture (approximately 100µm - 5mm). Dr. Margy Gassel, from the California (EPA) Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, documented the live specimens and froze them for future analysis.
The Launch of Dr. Andrea Neal’s Multi-Tiered Filtration System:
Later in the day, Dr. Neal started a multi-tiered filtration system to examine the size structure of marine debris. Using polycarbonate filters made by Millipore, this system will capture plastic in size ranges as low as 50 nm (in the nano-particle size range). We will examine the accumulation and characterization of these fine particles in our respective labs when we return. We will also compare our findings with oceanographic data from long-term monitoring sites established by CalCOFI (California Cooperative Ocean Fisheries Investigation). Tomorrow we will we reach our first CalCOFI site, which will mark the first nano-particle collection on our research route. Tonight we will be doing another midnight trawl analysis and kick off tomorrow with a wide spectrum of water sampling experiments in our first CalCOFI collection location.
Day Five- August 8, 2009-
Bioluminescent Sea Jellies:
August eighth started with bioluminescent sea jellies glowing neon aqua-blue illuminated by the presence of the full moon. The limpid waters and moonlight allowed the jellies to glow as deep as two meters, giving the science team an underwater electric light show. Some of the bioluminescent jellies were caught in the jaws of “Manny”, the manta trawler. We found 22 small silver fish, three small sea jellies, and an astonishing amount of marine debris given our distance from the Northwest Pacific gyre. The collected debris included two pre-production plastic pellets, also known as “nurdles.” After tedious work picking out the copious amount of fine and micro-sized particles, we decided to call it a night at 1:30 AM, to wake up again at 6 AM to prepare for our experiments at our first CalCOFI site.
Dr. Neal and Nicole Argyropoulos prepared the multi-tiered filtration system to analyze different sizes of fine-particulate marine debris and phytoplankton. Dr. Michael Gonsior, Dr. Margy Gassel, Heather Coleman, and Corinne Hume prepared Dr. Gonsior's dissolved organic matter (DOM) analysis, gathering water samples from approximately 200 meters and also from the surface. By gathering water at these two depths, Michael believes that he will be able to analyze the dissolved carbon pool in that general region. He plans to gather the samples in this methodology at all the CalCOFI sites on our research route in order to understand DOM cycling in that area. This is the first attempt to analyze marine DOM in the Pacific Ocean using ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry and to compare it to the Atlantic Ocean. DOM samples from the Atlantic gyre located in the Sargasso Sea are currently being processed and will be compared to the Pacific gyre after this research cruise.
Collections From the Manta Trawl:
After lunch we pulled in the manta trawl and noted a decrease in the quantity of marine debris. We also collected more small fish and jellies in the cod end of the trawl. After seeing incorporation of fine particle polymers in the innards of the jellies, the Science Team considered jelly and fish collections for persistent organic pollutant (POP) analysis. Later in the day the wind picked up again, and we scampered aloft to unfurl the sails. By using wind energy, we are once again able to conserve fuel, continue along our research route, and make our trip as environmentally sound as possible. This ethic continues in the way we dispose of our waste, recycling plastic and other co-mingled containers and only discarding organic waste.
Continuing on our Route:
The Science Team started to notice an increase in large-sized marine debris floating in the ocean (e.g., buoys, plastic bottles, crate) as we approach closer to the gyre. When possible, the Science Team has tried to catch the large pieces of marine debris or slow the ship in order to scoop the samples. Unfortunately, were we to stop to retrieve every piece of debris, we would sacrifice precious time at the gyre. Later in the evening, we had a fantastic birthday feast and Dr. Margy Gassel prepared an incredible butternut squash soup as per request of Nicole Argyropoulos. With the good company of our on-board shipmates, we finished the lovely evening with a screening of the film “Life Aquatic.”
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