Scientists from eight countries aboard the Dr.
Fridtjof Nansen, a research vessel operated by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (IMR) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), are assessing the scale and nature of industrial trash, including plastics and micro-plastics, in remote parts of the southern Indian Ocean.
FAO notes that the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans both have floating islands of trash twice the size of Texas, but the extent and impact of trash and plastic in the southern Indian Ocean is not yet known.
The research mission aims to fill this information gap.
11 August 2015: Scientists from eight countries aboard the Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, a research vessel operated by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (IMR) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), are assessing the scale and nature of industrial trash, including plastics and micro-plastics, in remote parts of the southern Indian Ocean. FAO notes that the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans both have floating islands of trash twice the size of Texas, but the extent and impact of trash and plastic in the southern Indian Ocean is not yet known. The research mission aims to fill this information gap.
Five trillion pieces of plastic are currently floating in the world’s oceans, according to FAO, and have potential impacts on the food chain and marine ecosystem health. Scientists aboard the research vessel are releasing and hauling special nets into the ocean several times a day to document the location and quantity of microplastics and how they move. Plastic particles have been found in almost all stations sampled, according to IMR and FAO.
The scientists are also measuring ocean temperatures, oxygen and chlorophyll levels, and biological process like plankton production and fish distribution, including in the Gyre, a cyclical vortex of currents. Chlorophyll is an indicator of the ocean’s food supply and its carbon storage capacity. The crew is using robotic sensors to sample ocean temperatures and salinity at depths of up to 2,000 meters.
Research vessels named the Dr. Fridtjof Nansen have conducted scientific operations on marine resources and trained scientists from around the world since 1974. The boat flies the UN flag, allowing it to operate across jurisdictional boundaries. The fourth phase of the programme is called the EAF-Nansen Project, and works with 32 African countries to assess their marine resources, develop fisheries management plans and maintain ecosystem health and productivity. FAO is the executive agency and Norad the principal funder of the EAF-Nansen project.
A new Dr. Fridtjof Nansen will be launched in 2016, with modern sonar sensors to quickly map fish distribution and a remote-control submersible vehicle for taking photos of the ocean floor. [FAO Press Release on Research Findings] [FAO Press Release on Dr. Fridtjof Nansen] [EAF-Nansen Project] [UN Press Release]