Microplastics sail around the world

Only three of 75 ocean samples collected during the Volvo Ocean Race have been found to be free of microplastics.

The microplastic-free samples were collected from sites south of Australia, east of Argentina and west of Ireland.

The highest levels of microplastic, 349 particles per cubic metre, were found in a sample taken in the South China Sea that feeds into the Kuroshio Current and the North Pacific Gyre, the around the world yacht race organisers said.

The second highest, 307 particles per cubic metre, came close from the point where the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean meet at the Strait of Gibraltar.

Even close to Point Nemo, the furthest place from land on Earth, where the nearest humans are on the International Space Station, between nine and 26 particles of microplastic per cubic metre were recorded.

The seawater samples were collected during the course of the 83,000km, eight-month race, which started in Alicante last October, and finished in The Hague in June. Cities visited along the way included an Auckland stopover in March.

Dr Toste Tanhua of GEOMAR Institute for Ocean Research Kiel said the research done during the race contributed enormously to the understanding of microplastic around the world.

Boats also collected other oceanographic data measurements including temperature, dissolved CO2, salinity and algae content, giving an indication of ocean health and acidification and supporting quantification of the ocean’s uptake of CO2.

Thirty scientific drifter buoys deployed during the race were also transmitting data being used for weather forecasting and measuring climate change.

The seawater samples were collected during the course of the 83,000km, eightmonth race.

Microplastics were often invisible to the naked eye and could take thousands of years to degrade. The information collected during the race was helping scientists gain an insight into the scale of plastic pollution and its impact on marine life, race organisers said.

Kiwi sailor Daryl Wislang was watch captain on Chinese entry Dongfeng Race Team, which won the ocean race. It was his third Volvo Ocean Race win and second in a row.

GETTY IMAGES Turn the Tide on Plastic and Team Brunel at the start of leg seven of the Volvo Ocean Race in Auckland.

Taking a sample on board Turn the Tide on Plastic.

Volvo Ocean Race sailors from Team Vestas, AkzoNobel, Turn the Tide on Plastics and Team Brunel removed plastic pollution from Takapuna Beach earlier this year.