SEA Education Association
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SEA Education Association (SEA) offers college students a study abroad that challenges them intellectually and physically by combining a sailing adventure of a lifetime with the study of the deep ocean.
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Browsing SEA Education Association by Author "Law, Kara L."
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Technical ReportCruise Report C-203 : Scientific data collected aboard SSV Corwith Cramer, Key West – Roatan, Honduras – Key West, 8 February 2006 – 18 March 2006(SEA Education Association, 2006-03) Law, Kara L.This cruise report provides a record of data collected aboard the SSV Corwith Cramer during cruise C-203 (U.S. State Department Cruise 2005-096), which departed from Key West, FL on 8 February 2006 and transited through the Florida Straits, the Sargasso Sea, and the Caribbean Sea before returning to Key West on 18 March 2006 (Figure 1). During the six week voyage we collected samples or data at 84 discrete oceanographic stations (Table 1), surface samples at 110 locations (Table 2), and we continuously sampled water depth and sub-bottom profiles (CHIRP system), upper ocean currents (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler, or ADCP), and sea surface temperature, salinity and in vivo fluorescence (seawater flow-through system). This report summarizes sea surface chemical and biological characteristics (Tables 2 and 3), chemical properties with depth (Table 4), and surface sediment properties (Table 5). Lengthy CTD, CHIRP, ADCP, and flow-through data are not reported here. All unpublished data can be made available by arrangement with the Sea Education Association (SEA) data archivist (contact information, p. 2). The information in this report is not intended to represent final interpretation of the data and should not be excerpted or cited without written permission from SEA. As part of SEA’s educational program, students conduct oceanographic research at sea for studies they have designed prior to the cruise. Student projects span the four major disciplines of oceanography – physical, chemical, biological, and geological oceanography (Table 6). Student research efforts culminate in a written paper and an oral presentation to the ship’s company. The student research papers from cruise C-203 are available upon request from SEA.
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ArticleDistribution of surface plastic debris in the eastern Pacific Ocean from an 11-Year data set(American Chemical Society, 2014-04-07) Law, Kara L. ; Moret-Ferguson, Skye E. ; Goodwin, Deborah S. ; Zettler, Erik R. ; DeForce, Emelia A. ; Kukulka, Tobias ; Proskurowski, GioraWe present an extensive survey of floating plastic debris in the eastern North and South Pacific Oceans from more than 2500 plankton net tows conducted between 2001 and 2012. From these data we defined an accumulation zone (25 to 41°N, 130 to 180°W) in the North Pacific subtropical gyre that closely corresponds to centers of accumulation resulting from the convergence of ocean surface currents predicted by several oceanographic numerical models. Maximum plastic concentrations from individual surface net tows exceeded 106 pieces km–2, with concentrations decreasing with increasing distance from the predicted center of accumulation. Outside the North Pacific subtropical gyre the median plastic concentration was 0 pieces km–2. We were unable to detect a robust temporal trend in the data set, perhaps because of confounded spatial and temporal variability. Large spatiotemporal variability in plastic concentration causes order of magnitude differences in summary statistics calculated over short time periods or in limited geographic areas. Utilizing all available plankton net data collected in the eastern Pacific Ocean (17.4°S to 61.0°N; 85.0 to 180.0°W) since 1999, we estimated a minimum of 21 290 t of floating microplastic.
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ArticleProduction, use, and fate of all plastics ever made(American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2017-07-19) Geyer, Roland ; Jambeck, Jenna ; Law, Kara L.Plastics have outgrown most man-made materials and have long been under environmental scrutiny. However, robust global information, particularly about their end-of-life fate, is lacking. By identifying and synthesizing dispersed data on production, use, and end-of-life management of polymer resins, synthetic fibers, and additives, we present the first global analysis of all mass-produced plastics ever manufactured. We estimate that 8300 million metric tons (Mt) as of virgin plastics have been produced to date. As of 2015, approximately 6300 Mt of plastic waste had been generated, around 9% of which had been recycled, 12% was incinerated, and 79% was accumulated in landfills or the natural environment. If current production and waste management trends continue, roughly 12,000 Mt of plastic waste will be in landfills or in the natural environment by 2050.
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ArticleRelative exposure to microplastics and prey for a pelagic forage fish(IOP Publishing, 2022-06-07) Chavarry, Julia M. ; Law, Kara L. ; Barton, Andrew D. ; Bowlin, Noelle M. ; Ohman, Mark D. ; Choy, C. AnelaIn the global ocean, more than 380 species are known to ingest microplastics (plastic particles less than 5 mm in size), including mid-trophic forage fishes central to pelagic food webs. Trophic pathways that bioaccumulate microplastics in marine food webs remain unclear. We assess the potential for the trophic transfer of microplastics through forage fishes, which are prey for diverse predators including commercial and protected species. Here, we quantify Northern Anchovy (Engraulis mordax) exposure to microplastics relative to their natural zooplankton prey, across their vertical habitat. Microplastic and zooplankton samples were collected from the California Current Ecosystem in 2006 and 2007. We estimated the abundance of microplastics beyond the sampled size range but within anchovy feeding size ranges using global microplastic size distributions. Depth-integrated microplastics (0–30 m depth) were estimated using a depth decay model, accounting for the effects of wind-driven vertical mixing on buoyant microplastics. In this coastal upwelling biome, the median relative exposure for an anchovy that consumed prey 0.287–5 mm in size was 1 microplastic particle for every 3399 zooplankton individuals. Microplastic exposure varied, peaking within offshore habitats, during the winter, and during the day. Maximum exposure to microplastic particles relative to zooplankton prey was higher for juvenile (1:23) than adult (1:33) anchovy due to growth-associated differences in anchovy feeding. Overall, microplastic particles constituted fewer than 5% of prey-sized items available to anchovy. Microplastic exposure is likely to increase for forage fishes in the global ocean alongside declines in primary productivity, and with increased water column stratification and microplastic pollution.
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ArticleSeabirds, gyres and global trends in plastic pollution(Elsevier, 2015-04-11) van Franeker, Jan A. ; Law, Kara L.Fulmars are effective biological indicators of the abundance of floating plastic marine debris. Long-term data reveal high plastic abundance in the southern North Sea, gradually decreasing to the north at increasing distance from population centres, with lowest levels in high-arctic waters. Since the 1980s, pre-production plastic pellets in North Sea fulmars have decreased by ∼75%, while user plastics varied without a strong overall change. Similar trends were found in net-collected floating plastic debris in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre, with a ∼75% decrease in plastic pellets and no obvious trend in user plastic. The decreases in pellets suggest that changes in litter input are rapidly visible in the environment not only close to presumed sources, but also far from land. Floating plastic debris is rapidly “lost” from the ocean surface to other as-yet undetermined sinks in the marine environment.
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ArticleThe United States' contribution of plastic waste to land and ocean(American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2020-10-30) Law, Kara L. ; Starr, Natalie ; Siegler, Theodore R. ; Jambeck, Jenna ; Mallos, Nicholas J. ; Leonard, George H.Plastic waste affects environmental quality and ecosystem health. In 2010, an estimated 5 to 13 million metric tons (Mt) of plastic waste entered the ocean from both developing countries with insufficient solid waste infrastructure and high-income countries with very high waste generation. We demonstrate that, in 2016, the United States generated the largest amount of plastic waste of any country in the world (42.0 Mt). Between 0.14 and 0.41 Mt of this waste was illegally dumped in the United States, and 0.15 to 0.99 Mt was inadequately managed in countries that imported materials collected in the United States for recycling. Accounting for these contributions, the amount of plastic waste generated in the United States estimated to enter the coastal environment in 2016 was up to five times larger than that estimated for 2010, rendering the United States’ contribution among the highest in the world.