MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) | MBARI’s underwater robots find plastic pollution from the surface to the deep seafloor @MBARIvideo | Uploaded April 2024 | Updated October 2024, 19 hours ago.
Too often, MBARI’s advanced underwater robots encounter trash. Even miles beneath the ocean’s surface we find garbage, much of it plastic. Plastic pollution puts deep-sea animals at risk. On the seafloor, bags and other plastic trash can smother marine life. In the midwater, drifting debris can entangle or choke animals or damage their delicate structures.
Over time plastic trash breaks down into smaller and smaller bits and pieces called microplastic. Microplastics have been found throughout the ocean, from the surface to the seafloor. We still don't understand how microplastics are impacting marine communities. MBARI research is revealing our close connection to the ocean—how it sustains us and how human actions affect marine animals and environments.
To protect the amazing animals of the deep, we need to stem the tide of plastic pollution. Single-use plastic items—like water bottles, takeout containers, coffee lids, straws, and shopping bags—make up a large percent of plastic waste. By refusing plastic packaging and choosing reusable alternatives, we can make a significant dent in ocean plastic pollution.
Learn more about trash in the deep sea: mbari.org/know-your-ocean/plastic-pollution-in-the-deep-sea
Learn how you can help from MBARI’s education and conservation partner, the Monterey Bay Aquarium: montereybayaquarium.org/act-for-the-ocean/plastic-pollution/what-you-can-do
Editor: Kris Walz
Script: Raúl Nava
Narrator: Megan Bassett
Animation: Madeline Go
Science advisors: Kyra Schlining, Nancy Jacobsen Stout, Susan von Thun (MBARI); Margaret Spring (Monterey Bay Aquarium)
Production team: Madeline Go, Larissa Lemon, Kyra Schlining, Nancy Jacobsen Stout, Susan von Thun
Music: Snowfall by Adi Goldstein (Artlist.io)
References:
Choy, C.A., B.H. Robison, T.O. Gagne, B. Erwin, E. Firl, R.U. Halden, J.A. Hamilton, K. Katija, S.E. Lisin, C. Rolsky, and K.S. Van Houtan. 2019. The vertical distribution and biological transport of marine microplastics across the epipelagic and mesopelagic water column. Scientific Reports, 9: 7843. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44117-2
Katija, K., C.A. Choy, R.E. Sherlock, A.D. Sherman, and B.H. Robison. 2017. From the surface to the seafloor: How giant larvaceans transport microplastics into the deep sea. Science Advances, 3(8): e1700715. doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700715
Schlining, K., S. von Thun, L. Kuhnz, B. Schlining, L. Lundsten, N. Jacobsen Stout, L. Chaney, and J. Connor. 2013. Debris in the deep: Using a 22-year video annotation database to survey marine litter in Monterey Canyon, Central California, USA. Deep-Sea Research I, 79: 96-105. doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2013.05.006
Too often, MBARI’s advanced underwater robots encounter trash. Even miles beneath the ocean’s surface we find garbage, much of it plastic. Plastic pollution puts deep-sea animals at risk. On the seafloor, bags and other plastic trash can smother marine life. In the midwater, drifting debris can entangle or choke animals or damage their delicate structures.
Over time plastic trash breaks down into smaller and smaller bits and pieces called microplastic. Microplastics have been found throughout the ocean, from the surface to the seafloor. We still don't understand how microplastics are impacting marine communities. MBARI research is revealing our close connection to the ocean—how it sustains us and how human actions affect marine animals and environments.
To protect the amazing animals of the deep, we need to stem the tide of plastic pollution. Single-use plastic items—like water bottles, takeout containers, coffee lids, straws, and shopping bags—make up a large percent of plastic waste. By refusing plastic packaging and choosing reusable alternatives, we can make a significant dent in ocean plastic pollution.
Learn more about trash in the deep sea: mbari.org/know-your-ocean/plastic-pollution-in-the-deep-sea
Learn how you can help from MBARI’s education and conservation partner, the Monterey Bay Aquarium: montereybayaquarium.org/act-for-the-ocean/plastic-pollution/what-you-can-do
Editor: Kris Walz
Script: Raúl Nava
Narrator: Megan Bassett
Animation: Madeline Go
Science advisors: Kyra Schlining, Nancy Jacobsen Stout, Susan von Thun (MBARI); Margaret Spring (Monterey Bay Aquarium)
Production team: Madeline Go, Larissa Lemon, Kyra Schlining, Nancy Jacobsen Stout, Susan von Thun
Music: Snowfall by Adi Goldstein (Artlist.io)
References:
Choy, C.A., B.H. Robison, T.O. Gagne, B. Erwin, E. Firl, R.U. Halden, J.A. Hamilton, K. Katija, S.E. Lisin, C. Rolsky, and K.S. Van Houtan. 2019. The vertical distribution and biological transport of marine microplastics across the epipelagic and mesopelagic water column. Scientific Reports, 9: 7843. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44117-2
Katija, K., C.A. Choy, R.E. Sherlock, A.D. Sherman, and B.H. Robison. 2017. From the surface to the seafloor: How giant larvaceans transport microplastics into the deep sea. Science Advances, 3(8): e1700715. doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700715
Schlining, K., S. von Thun, L. Kuhnz, B. Schlining, L. Lundsten, N. Jacobsen Stout, L. Chaney, and J. Connor. 2013. Debris in the deep: Using a 22-year video annotation database to survey marine litter in Monterey Canyon, Central California, USA. Deep-Sea Research I, 79: 96-105. doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2013.05.006
