The impact of The Ocean Cleanup’s plastic removal system in the GPGP on migrating neuston and the pelagic ecosystem

Dubois, Isabelle (2022) The impact of The Ocean Cleanup’s plastic removal system in the GPGP on migrating neuston and the pelagic ecosystem. Bachelor's Thesis, Biology.

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Abstract

Plastic pollution of the Earth’s oceans is an ever-growing problem that the non- profit organization by the name of The Ocean Cleanup wants to eradicate. The highest density of plastic accumulates in the North Pacific subtropical gyre. This hot spot is commonly referred to as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, or GPGP. The Ocean Cleanup has developed a floating cleanup system and released it within the GPGP. Concerns have been discerned by scientists such as Rebecca Helm about the impact the cleanup systems might have on the little-known community of neuston. These organisms spend (a part of) their life cycle in the upper layer of the water column. This thesis hones in on the function that the neuston has on the pelagic ecosystem, with a focus on migratory organisms, and the possible implications their removal could have ecologically due to these cleanup systems. Neustonic species influence and contribute the pelagic realm, by the means of species dispersal, food resources, and vertical transport of organic matter into the deep-sea. Nevertheless, it remains unlikely that the size, speed, and surface area covered by these plastic collecting systems will have major consequential impacts on these ecosystems as a whole. Rather, the proximity and precision with which scientists are now able to monitor these communities should be explored to increase data availability and research opportunities about neustonic ecosystems and their importance.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor's Thesis)
Supervisor name:	Boer, M.K. de and Birker, M.L.M.
Degree programme:	Biology
Thesis type:	Bachelor's Thesis
Language:	English
Date Deposited:	08 Apr 2022 09:08
Last Modified:	08 Apr 2022 09:08
URI:	https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/26685

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