Nancy Alboucq, Susan Muckle, Shirley Zyph, Margot Shaw, Molly Coxe,
Marcia Spees, Kim Secunda and her son Desmond
at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center Conference
Last October, and again in March, volunteers on San Juan, Orcas and Lopez collected and sorted micro-plastics from local beaches and sent them to the Marine Science Center in Port Townsend for analysis. The sampling program is part of an on-going research project at the Center, which includes samples from beaches in all the Washington counties around the Salish Sea. The program directors invited all the volunteer participants to attend a conference in Port Townsend this past weekend to hear about and discuss what has been learned so far.
The above group of Beach Watchers and friends were part of the group of over 100 volunteers who spent Friday night and all day Saturday at Fort Worden in various conference sessions. It was an enjoyable and informative weekend. Because the data collection is in its early stages, conclusions are still preliminary, but the quantity, variety and persistence of small plastic particles on the beaches of the Salish Sea was obvious and sobering to all of us. There are seasonal and other variations, and beaches that face the prevailing south winds, and especially those where the waves can build up over a long distance, tend to have noticeably higher concentrations of plastic. Fishing Bay on Orcas, which meets both of these criteria, topped the list for quantity of plastic particles.
We had the opportunity during the weekend to meet and learn from Beach Watchers and other volunteers from different counties, as well as to hear presentations by several of the researchers. Exhibits at the meetings included some very creative plastic art creations. and a display showing the exponential increase in the number of plastic water bottles in the past decade. An eleven-year-old budding scientists exhibited the results of her research into the contents of seagull boluses, which almost all now include some quantity of plastic.
The Marine Science Center hosted the conference participants at no charge, and added benefits of the weekend included the spectacular views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca from our dormitory, and Fort Worden's long sandy beaches and beautiful rhododendron bushes in full bloom.
We hope to add more beaches and more volunteers to our micro-plastic sampling project in the next year. Join the fun, and look forward to participating in next year's conference.
The above group of Beach Watchers and friends were part of the group of over 100 volunteers who spent Friday night and all day Saturday at Fort Worden in various conference sessions. It was an enjoyable and informative weekend. Because the data collection is in its early stages, conclusions are still preliminary, but the quantity, variety and persistence of small plastic particles on the beaches of the Salish Sea was obvious and sobering to all of us. There are seasonal and other variations, and beaches that face the prevailing south winds, and especially those where the waves can build up over a long distance, tend to have noticeably higher concentrations of plastic. Fishing Bay on Orcas, which meets both of these criteria, topped the list for quantity of plastic particles.
We had the opportunity during the weekend to meet and learn from Beach Watchers and other volunteers from different counties, as well as to hear presentations by several of the researchers. Exhibits at the meetings included some very creative plastic art creations. and a display showing the exponential increase in the number of plastic water bottles in the past decade. An eleven-year-old budding scientists exhibited the results of her research into the contents of seagull boluses, which almost all now include some quantity of plastic.
The Marine Science Center hosted the conference participants at no charge, and added benefits of the weekend included the spectacular views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca from our dormitory, and Fort Worden's long sandy beaches and beautiful rhododendron bushes in full bloom.
We hope to add more beaches and more volunteers to our micro-plastic sampling project in the next year. Join the fun, and look forward to participating in next year's conference.
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