Mt Maunganui students experienced a boat trip trawling for microplastics in the Tauranga harbour. PTC Trust collaborated with Skipper Brandon from Bay explorer, Richard de Hamel and researchers at the University of Waikato Tauranga to facilitate such an opportunity. For many of these kids, this was the first time on a boat and there was much to get done in the short frame of time.

Fishing nets, plankton nets, bio viewers, binoculars, microscopes - students had almost everything they would need to observe marine life and detect any microplastics. Compared to this similar trip 2 years ago, the end of the day resulted in no detected microplastics. However, there was a lot to observe in the way of zooplankton and phytoplankton.

Plankton Sampling

Students had a lot of fun with microscopes and plankton guides which they used to identify microscopic plants and animals.

Not finding microplastics was a good sign. According to the research paper ‘Plastics and Plankton in Our Seas’ by scientists Penelope Lindeque et al, there are some harmful risks of microplastic to our phytoplankton.

The research team found that ‘when microplastics enter the sea, bacteria and phytoplankton can attach to the surface of the plastic particles and grow there. Some species of phytoplankton produce a chemical called dimethyl sulphide (DMS)’….In fact their research showed that copepods eat a lot more microplastics when the plastic particles are coated in DMS than when they are not. This means that copepods could eat more microplastics if the plastics mimic the scent of their normal food’.

Microplastics are a real risk to marine life.

Identifying birds and mammals

Marine birdlife was very productive along this patch of ocean. Students in the first group noticed a huge flock of black birds flying overhead as they pulled out of Tauranga harbour. They could have been Little Shags, Active Skuas, Black Backed Gull. There were also sightings of small fishes leaping out of the water.