Back to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

It was time to visit WHOI for the second time, so my mom and I got on the ferry. We were going to show the scientists the micro-plastic samples we had collected.  We met up with Anna, Stacey, Beckett, and Kelly at a restaurant called Captain Kidd.  At the restaurant I told them about where, what, and how I found my samples. I then showed them the samples I had collected and told them the different techniques I came up with to collect the samples, such as using a hose to wash the sand through, and using the power of the ocean to wash the sand through the sieves. Then I showed them my other blog posts. You can learn more about this by clicking here. I also showed them the spreadsheet Amanda and I set up.

This is the device Beckett will use to study the micro-plastics I collected.

We then walked to a research building called "Blake.”  When we got there, we went to a conference room where Stacey gave a presentation about her program called the Sturgis ROVers.  To learn more about this group click here.  After the talk was over, we went on a tour of the lab. First we saw a large ROV named Sentry, which you can learn more about by clicking here. Sentry is an ROV than can reach depths of 6,000 meters (19,685 feet)! Sentry was getting a maintenance tune up while we were there.  

Afterwards, went into a room where WHOI Engineers and Scientists were building smaller ROVs and devices to mount inside of them.  One device was a 3D printed multi-battery pack holder, which is extremely light and enables the ROV to stay under longer by saving weight and adding extended power.

Battery pack holder that was 3D printed

Then, we decided to do a small experiment with Becket and Stacey in which we tried to figure out if the small beads in Dove Bodywash were microplastic or something else, such as gel beads.  We used water to flush the body wash through 1 mm and 0.3 mm mesh sieves.  The results were unexpected.  I suspected that there would be approximately 15-20 microbeads in the few splotches of Dove we put on the sieves, but I was wrong.  We were stunned to see over 100 microbeads.  After doing the experiment, Stacey thought that it would be a great idea to use this experiment as an educational tool for the students attending her camp.  

Then we went back to the conference room and watched parts of a movie about students from SEA's marine educational programs (Sea Education Association) who were studying microplastics from a vessel out at sea. Then a SEA research director met with us to compare notes about microplastics research and to give some input to Becket about his plan to design a microplastics detector.  I enjoyed learning about all the different types of plastic and their different properties, such as whether they float or sink.  

I loved working with these researchers over the summer and became much more aware about the effects of plastics and how even smallest pieces of plastic litter can cause harm to the environment. I also learned that written instructions don't always work in the field and that you have to improvise to get the best results.  I am looking forward to coming to WHOI next year and hopefully my research and samples will be helpful to the scientists and Stacey Strong's students.