Baykeeper recently hosted two National Geographic researchers aboard the Baykeeper boat for two days of collecting samples of plastic pollution in San Francisco Bay. The data from the samples will be compiled for National Geographic’s multi-year Planet or Plastic? initiative.
U.C. Santa Cruz ocean scientists Katlin Bowman and Carl Lamberg joined Baykeeper’s Field Investigator Sienna Courter and Executive Director Sejal Choksi-Chugh aboard the Baykeeper boat for the research. They used a trawl (pictured above) to pull plastic out of the water throughout the Bay, with pieces ranging in size from large plastic chunks to tiny microplastic particles.
One question the scientists are investigating is whether plastics in San Francisco Bay absorb mercury pollution that’s already present in the water. If the answer is yes, this contaminated plastic could increase the dangers for wildlife that ingest plastic and expose people who eat contaminated fish to greater levels of mercury.
Dr. Bowman and her team will look into mercury contamination of the plastics they pulled from the Bay and also mercury and plastic in the tissues of the Bay’s fish.
The Planet or Plastic? initiative aims to reduce the amount of single-use plastic that enters the world’s oceans. Results of the research conducted with Baykeeper will be used to provide science-based solutions that can be implemented by governments, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and the public.
Stories based on the research will also appear in National Geographic magazine. In addition to research, the initiative includes consumer education and innovative partnerships with businesses and nonprofit organizations to reduce plastic pollution in our waters.