Microplastics in Raja Ampat
A month has passed on Expedition Plastic, during which we have celebrated Christmas, New Year’s Eve and a couple of birthdays on our little steel ship. We have decorated the helm with palm leaves for Christmas, made our own birthday decorations from reused plastic and for all our efforts we finally arrived at Raja Ampat two days before New Year’s Eve. The kingdom of the four kings. An oceanic kingdom that seems to be comprised of more islands than people, and more kilometres of coastline than square kilometres of islands. With a mix of surprise and realism we also encountered our old enemy, plastic pollution.
Safe and moored to shore!
We arrived at the biggest island, Waigeo at night on the 29th December. As we dropped anchor, we had only the moonlight to guide us from above and the glowing plankton lighting up the ships movement from beneath. Finally we could go to bed, having arrived at our destination. The last thing I noticed before I went to sleep was the schooners swaying calmly around us, making it look like a lazaret for sleeping ships. We had come to the right place.
The next day we weighed anchor, and sailed the last 200 meters into the marina of Waisai and threw our mooring lines to the quay for the first time since leaving Jayapura. It felt great and we literally stomped and danced around on the wooden dock.
Living on the edge between a plastic free hotel and a city of plastic.
The marina was a part of a diving resort, whose facilities we could use freely. That led to a lot of chilling at the poolside and drinking coconuts with reusable steel straws. The hotel had a zero-single-use-plastic policy. Trying to make a statement to inspire its guests to treat their islands and environment with thought. We were pleasantly surprise by this initiative. Though the city that revealed itself when we stepped through the hotel gates was as similar to Jayapura and the other towns we visited as it could possibly be.
With plastic thrown along the roadside, no trashcans in sight and plastic bags blowing across the streets, from its happy owners at the busy marketplace. The contrast between the fancy hotel and the city itself paints a picture of the difficulties around the plastic-solving process in Indonesia. The difference between the private luxury hotels resources and the rest of the public city was undeniable. Outside of the private hotel, there were no incitements and campaigns from the state to engage its citizens to take a stand. That makes it hard for the normal Indonesian citizen to change habits for an ambiguous plastic problem, instead of continuing work, production and consumer habits that is bringing food to the table every night.
Catching microplastics alongside shark whales
On our way to Waisai we left a lavish green coastline behind us, to set out into the blue bay of Teluk Cenderawasih, with only the small coral islands separating us from the open Pacific. On deck the crew begin to rig the ship ready to set the big manta trawl. For the first time at sea on this expedition we are documenting plastic pollution in the ocean!
We use eight different ropes to secure and adjust the mantatrawl, so that it can be thrown over the railing and towed three meters away from the side of the ship. In one hour, approximately 3000m2 of water will flow through the 60 cm wide trawl-opening to collect the microplastics. Counting down from three everybody is on their designated post. The helm person sticking on course, lowering our speed to three knots. One person to write down the exact time and our precise position. Two others on deck to throw the trawl in the water. A fourth to document the whole operation on camera. A huge plash, then a few wobbly seconds follow, the trawl looking like an angry fish caught on a hook. Then the trawl adjusts itself halfway submerged in water and continues elegantly across the surface on a mission.
Unfortunately microplastics are not only caught on purpose of expedition ships like ours. In this area the population of whale sharks is the only one in the world that does not migrate throughout their lifespan. That is believed to be the result of a perfect food supply, which for whalesharks are plankton and alevin. But microplastic has made its way into their feeding grounds, and that can only be harmful to their health.
Yay we found plastic! Or no, I mean damn..
We bring the trawl up on deck after an hour. Now the work of sorting the microplastic from the organic sediments begin. At first glance there is only green and blue plankton to see, the deep blue water flowing by us, doesn't give any hint of plastic either. But after using a magnifying glass, tweezers and a special strainer in three layers, microplastic starts to reveal itself among the big amounts of plankton. Before thinking I burst out a big yay when I discover my first piece of plastic! Proudly I flash the piece to Torsten Geertz, the expedition leader. The next second I realize that my excitement is extremely misplaced and I am overwhelmed by a sadness of how problematic my first-hand discovery is.
We go through the rest of the trawl and analyse the pieces in different categories of plastic before making an overall count. Torsten does the final calculation, so the result can be added to the database. The result indicates that there are 7000 pieces of plastic pr. Km2. That is a disturbingly high concentration. Torsten explains that it is only in the infamous "gyres", where the big ocean currents meet and by the coast of big cities, that Expedition plastic has found such a high concentration of plastic in the ocean. Unfortunately the animals around here do not have special equipment to separate the plastic from their normal food, therefore we humans must be the ones to react and use more resources to prevent more plastic to end up in the ocean!
At last a late happy New Year here from Indonesia. Let’s hope we will get a less plastic filled year and cleaner oceans by creating more awareness and working harder!
