Celebrating World Oceans Day with young scientists in Pérula
This year, students participating in the international program Científicos de la Basura (Litter Scientists Network), in collaboration with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, are implementing the project “Viajeros del Oceano” (Ocean Travelers), a study of the marine organisms that colonize marine trash that washes up along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. From bryozoans to gooseneck barnacles (a culinary specialty!), there is a whole world of creatures - called epibionts - that specialize in attaching themselves to and growing on structures in the ocean. Anything in the ocean, from sea turtles and whales, to boats and piers, to floating plastic - is potential habitat for these creatures.
Students from the Telesecundaría Luis García de Quevedo in Punta Pérula are implementing rigorous methodology to compare results with other school groups internationally. After collecting debris on the beach, students separated, categorized and classified the trash and any epibionts found on the items. Those items with epibionts will next be sent to the Universidad del Mar Marine Invertebrate Laboratory in Oaxaca for further analysis.
Why does it matter? Floating trash can become a vector, transporting invasive species to new ecosystems and upsetting the previously established balance of life. This has serious economic impacts - the estimated total cost of invasive species worldwide is $1.288 trillion over the past 50 years (National Invasive Species Information Center).
Marine debris colonized by bryozoans, the most common type of epibiont found in this study.
The presence of epibionts is also a clear indicator that the debris have spent an extended period of time at sea. This tells us a lot about ocean currents and the origins of beach trash. Previous studies done through the Litter Scientists Network have shown that along the coast of Mexico, less than 10% of litter on the beach comes from other places.
Conversely, in Central American countries such as Nicaragua, over 50% of the trash is transported from other countries and deposited by marine currents. Our preliminary results back up these findings, with just a small portion of our samples colonized by epibionts. This is actually positive news for Mexico; because the litter on our beaches is mostly local, cleaning up our beaches is very much in our hands!
A sea turtle found on a beach north of Pérula with a plastic ring around its neck, reminding us all of what’s at stake if we don’t implement solutions to plastic pollution. Photo credit: Israel Llamas González
Based on the findings of their scientific investigation, students are then challenged to design and implement prevention and mitigation projects to reduce pollution in their community. Previous participants created and distributed educational brochures, created Tiktok videos about overconsumption, taught a class on recycling to 4th-6th graders, created and installed receptacles for cigarette butts, and built a recycling container from plastic bottles. What will this year’s participants come up with?
