1. Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation
Michael Wiest and Regina Wang

2. Archipelagos: - marine conservation institute on a Greek island - about 30 interns at a time from many different countries

3. What we did in Greece: -Surveys (terrestrial & marine) -Necropsy (golden jackal) -Jackal surveys (Emily’s work) -Wildlife Library Main Project: -Microplastics!

4. Terrestrial Surveys: Chameleons!

5. And: hedgehogs and terrapins

6. Marine surveys: -Underwater visual census

7. Awesome Cuttlefish!

8. And finally: MICROPLASTICS!!!

9. What are microplastics?
Plastic fragments <5mm (>500µm)
Typically: polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride
plastic resin pellets, plastic products, plastic product fragments, fibres, rubber, Styrofoam, plastic sheets and sponges

11. Source and prevalence
Macroplastics: fishing gear, industrial production, littering, and waste effluent
Microplastics: result from photo, thermo-oxidative, bio, and physical degradation. Chemicals contain them. Shipping
Found on all 6 continents
Accumulate in high pressure areas (gyres)

12. Broader Implications
Plastics resist biodegradation due to short biological timespan
Can accumulate in organisms
Microplastics accumulate Persistent Organic Pollutants (polychlorinated biphenyl, Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDT), Biphenol A)

13. Archipelagos past research
18 H. forskali and 4 H. tubulosa sampled:
24 hour sampling period
Plastics found in all samples (max 32 fibres)
114 beach sites in 2009, 49 sites in 2011.
Plastics at all sites
Max concentration was 112 fibres/sample

14. Methodology Sediment: Holothurians:
Add saturated NaCl soln. Agitate and let settle
Filter and analyze through microscope.
Holothurians:
Keep in filtered sea water 24 hrs.
Return to sea. Agitate and filter sea water. Analyze

15. Ongoing research Altered methodology for mass measurements
Take sediment samples at depth rather than distance from shore.
Added sampling in proximity of Holothuria for concentration comparison
Sampling sites on Samos and six sites on Oinousses
Regina analyzed fish guts to study travel through trophic levels.

17. Sediment results Total plastics at depth Average plastics at depth
Fibers
Fibers

18. Holothuria results
Fibers/gram sediment

19. Concentration difference (Holothuria)

20. Some pictures of fun times!

21. Some pictures of fun times!

22. Some pictures of fun times!

23. Some pictures of fun times!