Plastic is everywhere

Earlier this week I started to count my phytoplankton under the microscope.
Just for fun I've started to take a count of plastic too.

In every single one of my samples I have so far found plastic.
I've settled about 25 ml to count, and of that I only count half of my chamber. So really I'm only looking at about 10 ml.
And in every single one I find traces of plastic!
It's unbelievable that in such a tiny random ocean water sample - so much plastic can be found. It just emphasizes the enormous problem we are facing with plastic and other pollutants in the ocean.

#noplasticinnature

To follow up on that I recently went on a short hike around Lake Alpine up in Stanislaus National Forest in California. On my 7 km hike I found the following:

• 3 plastic bottles
• 1 ziplog bag 
• 1 plastic bag
• 1 Cliff Bar wrapper
• 4 hard candy wrappers
• Bottom plastic from a cigarette pack  
• Half of an old label 
• Expired Macy's coupon 
• Half a shoe sole 
• 1 plastic spoon  
• A pair of glasses
• A pair of sun glasses

It seems like humanity is determined to make their presence known in the geologic record!

#leavenotrace

Fieldwork in Carlsbad

Returned from another successful fieldtrip to Carlsbad!

After long months of planning, emailing, organizing and packing it is great to see it all come together in one hectic week. Having a good-working team on such a trip means the world and it helps everything run smoothly.

This time we spent the week at an AirBNB house, so we had plenty of space for all the equipment, a nice big freezer for sample storage and space to dry off the scuba gear. And even a nice garden to sit and enjoy the sun while filtering the water samples:

With a dream-team of divers the works get done! We had a boat and our amazing captain Rich Walsh from SCRIPPS Institute of Oceanography to help us out. My diver dream-team where all former students from UCSC and I've been taking classes with them, gone on fun scuba trips and endured our great Diving Officer Steve Clabuesch's tough sci-dive class. With divers like them - things will work out!

So even though we got beaten up by the swell one of the days and had to cancel the dives, we managed to come back on the last day and finish the sampling.

It is now my 3rd time at this fieldsite so I know my way around, and I know where on my transect there will be problems. Even though it is a lot of work, it is fun to be in charge of the sampling and the process. I work as dive leader and field coordinator, while I am diving and sampling. This way I am sure that the samples are taken at the spots I think it is important, and if something doesn't get sampled, I know why.

I love being in the field even though it's a hard week and a long process to get there. Getting out of the office and lab is always a pleasure, and doing work while diving is just the best! And then you get small treats like seeing dolphins and whales on the way back to harbor!

I have one more fieldtrip to do in Carlsbad - I am sad that it might be the last!