Plastic Marine Debris and Interactions with Microbes in the Atlantic

Pollution in our oceans through the use and consumption of plastics is a phenomenon that is impacting the marine environment. As time has progressed, much has been publicized on how garbage patches in the ocean are a threat to the marine biota. Though this has become a popular topic, it is also a fairly new research topic and little is known about where the plastic comes from, what kinds of plastic persist, and how long it takes to degrade in the ocean gyres.

This study focused on identifying the types of plastic collected during a transit from St. Croix, USVI to Woods Hole, MA. Plastic resin type was identified using Raman Spectroscopy to determine what types of plastic are the most abundant and determine how representative is this to the Atlantic Garbage Patch composition.

My study also investigated microbe interactions with plastic. I grew strains of Vibrio isolated from plastic marine debris in liquid medium with different plastic resins of different composition , then examined these resins using scanning electron microscopy to determine how different bacteria attach and affect the plastic surfaces.

This study has given us a better understanding of plastic content in the Atlantic and microorganismal effects with these substrates.