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What data is being collected?

Measuring levels of microplastics

Lead researcher: Prof Fay Couceiro

There’s a huge body of evidence showing the harmful impact of microplastics on aquatic life. Where plastics enter the ocean isn’t where they stay, however, and researchers are keen to understand how they move. 

While microplastics sampling has been done before, it has never been as a continuous flow of data from around the UK. And that’s exactly what we’ll achieve.

Samples of water are taken every day of the row, for a couple hours each day and then sent to the University for processing. The end result is a heatmap of microplastic pollution in the waters surrounding the British Isles. This should also reveal the extent of microplastics in protected areas at sea, such as Marine Conservation Zones.

The research examines microplastics above 50 micron in size — the very smallest size you can see with a human eye. 50 micron tends to be the preferred feeding range for a number of aquaculture species, so this research provides insights into microplastic consumption by marine wildlife. The plastic fragments are identified with a specialist microscope in the University labs, called a micro Raman, which can detect the type of plastic found. 

Tracking fish and marine mammals with eDNA

Lead researcher: Prof Alex Ford 

Other water samples allow scientists to measure eDNA in fish and marine mammals - creating a picture of what species are living in and around different areas of the coast and how these might be changing over time.

Cells that have shed from animals (eDNA) are picked up on a purpose-made water filter. University researchers process the DNA to give an indication of species in the area, such as a whale or dolphin. This may prove helpful to verify other findings — for example, if the soundscape has picked up ‘clicks’ from dolphins, the eDNA may verify this and potentially identify the species.

As the team row past major river estuaries we anticipate a greater density of microplastics and chemical pollutants. We may also see a correlation with the distribution of species in relation to the pollutants present. It should paint a vivid picture of what's going on — this is why the long-term data set is really important and useful.
 

Building a map of noise pollution

Noise pollution is one of the major pollution problems in our ocean. As human activity expands, underwater soundscapes are changing. Habitats are increasingly dominated by human-made noise, which can have a range of impacts on marine wildlife – from behavioural disturbance to physiological damage.

Constant noise samples are taken via an underwater microphone fitted to the boats, called a hydrophone. Hydrophones are commonly used to map sound in marine environments, but are normally static (monitoring what travels past) – our research provides a continuous map of sound around the UK. We should pick up passing ships, drilling at oil rigs and wind farms and potentially noises from marine mammals. The research may pick up short-term variations too, such as increased noise on sunny days due to leisure boating.

The University analyses the distribution of noise using technology typically used for space science. The team at the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation use computer algorithms to identify changes in the soundscape. 
 

Monitoring water salinity and temperature

Sensitive temperature and salinity monitors onboard the GB Row Challenge boats provide very accurate data, which may reveal changes year on year. Oceanographers can make good use of this data and it may prove useful to other scientists looking at climate-related impacts on wildlife distribution.

Researchers

Our academics conducting the research in collaboration with GB Row Challenge include: