by Dr. Birgit Quack, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
There are two regions of our atmosphere where the trace gas ozone is especially important: in the stratosphere and in the surface boundary layer. In the upper region of our atmosphere, the stratosphere ozone is produced from the sunlit decay of oxygen and acts as an important UV radiation protector for life on earth. It is rapidly destroyed by radical reactions of halogens, such as chlorine, bromine, and iodine, which occur in various forms in our atmosphere. A severe ozone hole occurred in the 1980s and could be related to long-lived fluorochlorocarbons, which were banned by the Montreal Protocol in the 1990s. Because of this, the ozone hole over Antarctica is closing and ozone in the upper stratosphere is generally increasing again. However, in the lower stratosphere of the tropics, it is still declining. Surface ozone, on the other hand, is increasing due to air pollution, especially when fossil fuel is combusted.
Under windy.com, anyone who has internet access can find a global map for ozone and local values for every place in the world (Figure 1). Surface ozone, which is also a greenhouse gas, is produced naturally to a background of 10-40 µg/m3. As it is a strong oxidant, it can irritate eyes and lungs in higher concentrations. Therefore, legal thresholds and warning systems are established for cities where ambient concentrations increase in summer >100µg/m3 and can harm sensitive people.
Figure 1 shows the ozone surface ozone concentrations in the area where our cruise SO305 operated in the Bay of Bengal. It is very high over the entire India during the day, and it is also apparent that the ozone concentrations sharply decline at the coastlines and towards the open oceans. This is mainly due to an active halogen chemistry, which destroys ozone over the oceans, caused by natural halogenated volatile compounds. They are formed in the oceans by sunlight, phytoplankton, and chemical reactions and are partly released into the atmosphere. Those compounds comprise bromoform (CHBr3), dibromo¬methane (CH2Br2), methyl iodide (CH3I), diiodomethane (CH2I2) iodochloromethane (CH2CII), dichlorobromomethane (CHBrCl2) and all have short atmospheric lifetimes of minutes to six months. The anthropogenic industrial solvent dichloromethane (CH2Cl2) and chloroform (CHCl3) from freshwater chlorination are also short-lived and contribute to ozone depletion in the atmosphere as well. The compounds lifted up into the stratosphere by deep convection in the tropics release their halogens in the lower stratosphere while moving to the North and South poles. Thus, the tropical processes exert their effects globally.
During the last month, we were on board RV Sonne in the tropical Bay of Bengal, discovered in 2001 as a major source of some natural halogenated volatile compounds to the atmosphere. We measured the compounds in water on board, with a Gas-chromatographic Mass-spectrometric (GC/MS) Purge-system (Figure 2), in order to understand their source strengths and learn about their biogeochemical cycling in the oxygen minimum zone of the Bay of Bengal.
Jule, doing her master thesis on the topic, Julia, joining R/V Sonne for the second time as a student helper, and I, traveling the oceans for 30 years for halocarbons, brought our analytical system on board, which ran smoothly since the beginning of the cruise 24/7 in shifts of each 8 hours, where the instrument gets a new sample every hour. We have taken water from the deep ocean and the surface waters in brown glass bottles and pumped air into stainless steel canisters (Figure 3). The gases in the water samples were extracted with helium, frozen in liquid nitrogen, separated on a gas-chromatographic column, and detected with a Mass-spectrometer. The air samples will be analysed using a similar method for approximately 50 compounds by Elliot Atlas at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, US. From the concentrations in the ocean and atmosphere, we calculate the air-sea gas exchange of the compounds, try to understand their distribution in the region related to physical and biogeochemical parameters, and estimate how the oceanic source and sink may develop in the future and what this means for ozone as a greenhouse gas and as UV-shield.
During every ship expedition in my 30 years of travelling the oceans, a team of scientists and crew on board different research vessels explored the ocean as an ancient interplay of water, chemicals, trillions of bacteria, and higher organisms, influenced by gravity, the rotation of the earth as well as by sunlight and the moon. The biota responds to the distribution of nutritious chemicals, while the waters interact closely with the atmosphere, from the sea surface to the stratosphere. Every time, a bit of the myriad of global and regional secret interactions, which determine the basis of our life, was discovered and published. The old interplay is now influenced by human activities, which I hope do not tip the evolving equilibrium so that future generations have the chance to further unravel it to sustainably live with it.
I was able to conduct my last cruise on RV Sonne, a starship of the German research fleet, with a professional crew, which enabled again very good data sets, by the smooth operation of the ship until Singapore harbour. During the next years, I will likely mainly explore my 30-year data sets with AI for the benefit of extracting the most knowledge about halocarbons out of them. Jule and Julia will hopefully find more opportunities to conduct their career with ocean voyages of discovery, as those not only promote knowledge, but also evolve social skills of team effort, discipline, endurance, considerateness and tolerance. I will miss the daily challenges of a successful research cruise.
Birgit Quack, Singapore 18.05.2024
This fall, Ocean Conservancy is celebrating its 41st annual International Coastal Cleanup® (ICC), once again bringing together volunteers to protect the beaches and waterways we all love. Ocean Conservancy recently hosted flagship events in Long Beach and Washington, D.C. that celebrated this global movement close to home.
Over the past four decades, nearly 20 million volunteers have rolled up their sleeves to remove more than 405 million pounds of trash from beaches and waterways around the world. And their impact extends far beyond what they collect. ICC volunteers have documented nearly 440 million individual items, creating the world’s largest marine debris database and providing invaluable information that helps Ocean Conservancy and others better understand—and tackle—ocean plastic pollution.
This year’s celebration continued that incredible legacy. At Alamitos Beach in Southern California, more than 150 volunteers gathered on September 19 and removed 1,109 pounds of trash, alongside members of Team USA Artistic Swimming and Olympic and Paralympic athletes. In Washington, D.C., 439 volunteers gathered on September 26 to remove 2,182 pounds of trash from Anacostia Park along the Anacostia River.
“I am so grateful to all of the volunteers who came out today for our ocean—and every volunteer who has made the last 41 years of impact possible,” said Ocean Conservancy’s Senior Director of Conservation Cleanups, Allison Schutes. “Every piece of plastic collected helps protect marine animals and habitats and contributes to research and advocacy.”
And the impact doesn’t stop when the cleanup ends. During International Coastal Cleanup events, volunteers do more than remove trash: They document what they find, helping build a clearer picture of the plastic pollution threatening our waterways and wildlife. Through the Clean Swell® app or paper data sheets, ICC volunteers contribute to Ocean Conservancy’s online, open-access database, the world’s largest repository of marine debris data. These records help scientists, conservation groups and governments understand pollution trends and identify solutions.
That data can also drive meaningful policy change. ICC data were recently used in a peer-reviewed study showing that plastic bag bans lead to reduced plastic bag pollution. The data have also helped advance policies ranging from California’s SB 54 to Florida’s balloon release ban and the federal Farewell to Foam Act. From a neighborhood cleanup to statewide action, every piece of documented trash helps build the evidence needed to tackle plastic pollution at its source.
Get Ocean Updates in Your Inbox
Sign up with your email and never miss an update.
Want to get involved?
Whether you join a local cleanup, record the trash you find using the Clean Swell app, or take action to reduce plastic pollution, you can be part of this incredible collective effort to protect our ocean. Here are a few ways to make an impact:
- Find a cleanup near you.
- Download our Clean Swell app to easily record the trash you collect.
- Take action to reduce plastic pollution.
- Explore our Wildlife Impact Calculator to estimate the potential benefits of your cleanup for marine wildlife.
- Donate today to Ocean Conservancy to help us fight plastic pollution for years to come!
The post Celebrating 41 Years of the International Coastal Cleanup® appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.
For generations, stories of people being swallowed by enormous sea creatures have painted awe-inspiring tales of human survival and perseverance. From the biblical account of Jonah to the legendary battle of Hercules and Cetus to the timeless story of Pinocchio, these legendary tales have captivated people since time immemorial.
But all these stories raise the question: Could someone really be swallowed by a whale? With the premiere of the film Whalefall on October 16, 2026, you may find yourself in conversations about this very situation. Based on the bestselling 2023 thriller authored by Daniel Kraus, the film tells the story of a scuba diver who is accidentally gobbled up by a sperm whale while searching for the remains of his late father. With only an hour of oxygen left in his tank, the diver must fight to escape the whale’s gut before time runs out.
The answer to whether it’s anatomically possible for a whale to swallow a person is actually a bit more complicated than you might think.