SEA Scientists and Students Contribute to Finding Widespread Floating Plastic Debris in North Atlantic Ocean

plastics in North Atlantic — Students at SEA collected tens of thousands of plastic pieces at 6,100 offshore locations. Credit: Sea Education Association

Undergraduates working through the Sea Education Association (SEA) play major role in discovery.

Despite growing awareness of the problem of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans, little solid scientific information has existed about the nature and scope of the issue. This week, a team of researchers from the Sea Education Association (SEA), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and the University of Hawaii (UH) has published results in the journal Science of a study of plastic marine debris based on data collected over 22 years by undergraduate students. Read more:

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=117541&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

To read a report on this topic from WHOI, visit here:

http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/viewArticle.do?id=80106&sectionid=1021