Olá da Madeira! The island – a green paradise in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean – has been home to us for almost three months already. How the time flies!
We are Lara and Karo, one of 8 teams that currently conduct experiments all over the world as part of this year’s GAME project. Lara is a Marine Biology student currently enrolled at the University of Rostock and she is collecting data for her master thesis within the project. When she heard about GAME from her professor, she knew she had to be part of it! Karo is studying Biological Oceanography in Kiel. She found her passion for marine sciences quite recently and has never lived close to the ocean on beforehand. It was a dream of them both to join this project!
This year’s aim is – like in the previous years since 2021 – to investigate the effects of artificial light at night (or ALAN for short). We want to see how this phenomenon affects macroalgae in their ability to photosynthesize, grow and defend themselves against grazers. After an intense planning phase in March, during which we decided on the design of our experiments, we were more than glad to leave cold and grey northern Germany behind and escape into the sunny, subtropical climate of Madeira.
Finding accommodation was not easy, but in the end, we found a nice flat in the capital city Funchal with (almost) an ocean view! More than this, we have a balcony where we’ve enjoyed many lengthy weekend breakfasts.
We had an enjoyable first week when we settled into our flat, scouted the city and tried to figure out the bus system, which proved to be kind of complicated, since there are so many different bus companies here. One thing we learned very quickly, though: walking on this island requires strong calves. Madeira is hills…hills…and more hills. This is why you hardly ever see local people walking here – sometimes you get funny looks when you are doing a typical German “Spaziergang” (which is more like a hike over here), and you really have to watch out not to get run over by a bus or a car.
Then, we finally met the team of the Marine and Environmental Science Centre “MARE”. In our first meeting, we sat together with our supervisors (who are all former GAME participants!) and discussed how we could make our experiments here successful. Everyone was excited and motivated to get our project started!
Not long after, we made our first trip to the laboratory where we are conducting our experiments together. It is located in Quinta do Lorde, a place on the easternmost part of the island. It is close to the peninsula “Ponta de São Lourenço” which offers stunning views over the rugged coastline of the volcanic island. This part of the island is very dry and it almost feels like you have stepped into a desert – quite the contrast to the rest of Madeira, which is a lush, green paradise.
It is also the perfect spot for investigating ALAN, since it is very isolated and therefore mostly uninfluenced by nighttime illumination. Hence, the marine life here is not already adapted to light at night. The only downgrade is: the lab is located quite far away from Funchal, where we live. Most days, we have to take a bus that takes the scenic route and drives 1.5 hours along the coast, up and down the hills. At least we are rewarded with pretty ocean views during the drive – or we go for a little nap, especially after a long day in the lab. Thankfully, we can sometimes catch a ride in the car with our supervisors.
In the first weeks, we worked hard to build up our experimental set-up. Thanks to the great work of former GAME students, our lab is already equipped with most of the materials that we need, so we could quickly set up a flow-through system to supply running water to our algae. But we celebrated too soon: The complete water system of the lab had to be cleaned with bleach due to some pesky epiphytic growth and that meant that we had to re-do the flow through system again from scratch. We patiently cut tubes, and more tubes and connected them with little plastic suppliers, which let out filtered seawater to each of our 72 experimental tanks.
To give our algae as much light as possible, so that they are able to happily photosynthesize, we decided to order more LED lamps. One thing we did not anticipate: Madeira is located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, around 1000 km from the European coastline (the African coast is actually closer!), so equipment can take a loooong time to arrive. We were lucky that our lamps arrived “only” 3 weeks later, but already we faced the next challenge: connecting our lights to the control unit, with which we want to regulate the light intensity that our algae will be exposed to, proved to be more difficult than we had previously thought. However, with the help of the lab technician Patrício we quickly found a solution!
When we weren’t diligently building our set-up, we spent our days snorkelling in different places on the south coast of the island, looking for algae “candidates” that we could use in our experiments. Easier said than done, because the waters around Madeira are depleted in nutrients and large macroalgae are rare to find. We quickly decided on using Halopteris scoparia, a brown macroalgae that is quite abundant in the upper subtidal and therefore possible for us to collect while snorkelling. Another (particularly interesting) candidate is Rugulopteryx okamurae, an invasive brown alga, that has first been introduced on the north coast of Madeira in 2021 and since then spread rapidly – it is even growing on the pontoons in the marina outside our lab. It could be especially interesting to investigate how this species reacts to ALAN in comparison to native algae.
Since we want to investigate how ALAN affects the defence capacity of our algae, we also had to find suitable grazers (=algae eaters). Our options were less than ideal: Should we use sea urchins (even though they are very hungry and consume our algae in too large amounts) or intertidal snails (even though this makes less sense ecologically, because our algae come from the subtidal). In the end, we decided on the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus, which we can easily collect in the tide pools next to our lab. Did we say easy? – To get the hang of how to sample these little algae eaters took some blood, sweat and tears. Equipped with forks and buckets; after waiting for low tide to arrive, we wade into the tide pools and try to gently (or not so gently) persuade our sea urchins to come out of the holes in the rock that they like to sit in. We always take good care not to injure or stress them too much, but some unfortunately have already met their fate.
Before we could start with the main experiments, we had to test a few things. For instance, how much and when the sea urchins eat and how much the algae photosynthesize. To find this out, we carried out some pilot studies – more or less successfully. During one of our pilot studies all our sea urchins mysteriously died, probably after some contamination[LM1] [LH2] of the water. In addition to this, our method for measuring the oxygen production initially did not work, because the oxygen values we measured did not stabilize and photosynthesized waaaay too slowly despite looking perfectly healthy. After many hours of trial and error, we fortunately found a way that should allow us to accurately assess the oxygen evolution. For this[LM3] , we increased the light intensity to help the algae photosynthesize more quickly and also got a multi-position magnetic stirrer where we can put multiple of our containers with algae on simultaneously. A little magnetic bar keeps the water in the containers in constant motion, resulting in more stable oxygen measurements.
Furthermore, we have another nice tool available here. It is a PAM, which is short for Pulse Amplitude Modulation. Behind this rather complicated name lies a technology with which we can assess how well our algae are absorbing sunlight for photosynthesis and ultimately determine their health status. Because no one in the institute had used the device before, we had to do a lot of headache-inducing reading (the 200-page manual is not easy to understand) and carry out some test runs to get prepared for the measurements. Our weekly meetings with the other GAME participants became crucial for discussing challenges and brainstorming solutions together – so far this project has been a huge learning curve for the both of us.
Our lunch breaks we share with the lizards. Fun fact: there are more lizards than mice on Madeira! They are called Madeira lizards (Teira dugesii) and they are endemic to some of the Macaronesian islands. They are very curious creatures – especially when we unpack our food. They sometimes even like to jump on our feet, but you have to watch out that they don’t crawl inside your backpack, and you accidentally take home a new pet.
When we are not in the lab, we also know how to have fun (not that being in the lab is not fun). Madeira is an island full of amazing places and activities, and it’s a hiker’s paradise! There are a lot of different routes to explore, very famous are “levada” walks here. Levadas are old, narrow water channels that wind through the mountains. They were constructed to carry water from the misty mountains down to the drier parts of the island to water the crops of the farmers. You can walk along these levadas and enjoy the views over the island!
Besides doing a lot of hiking and training our calves, we have spotted some dolphins, explored different beaches, and even got swept up in the European Championships fever. Since Madeira is Cristiano Ronaldo’s birthplace, people here (young and old) are fans, and we joined the locals cheering for the Portuguese soccer team. Of course, we also had to try Madeira’s famous “poncha”, a traditional drink with rum and fresh fruit juice – typically lemon, orange, or – our favourite – maracuja. Another drink is Nikita, which is a mixture of pineapple juice, ice cream and beer. It tastes… well… interesting, as Karo’s face in the picture shows.
Madeira’s climate is perfect for growing all kinds of tropical fruits and other plants. What people keep as house plants in Germany, grows here in ditches next to the road, or in the size of trees – Monstera leaves get almost bigger than oneself! We also tried some fruits here that we have never seen before in our life. Our flatmate’s supervisor even has avocado trees in his backyard, which we sometimes get a share of – a luxury we will sorely miss back in Germany.
Another thing we learned here: you can never trust the weather forecast. In Funchal, situated on the south coast, the weather is usually pretty dry and sunny. However, it’s a different story for the North coast, where it rains more frequently, and temperatures are cooler. But even here on the sunny south coast, you never know what to wear. You could burn under the African sun or in the next second freeze from the wind, especially in the evenings, when the sun is already down. The onion-principle (a German favourite) really proves best.
We have been really enjoying our time here so far and we are sure by the end of September we will not want to go back to Germany. We have finished the first experiment and are soon starting the second one, we are excited to see what happens!
Lights, Algae, Action! Researching light pollution in the middle of the Atlantic
What do you think about when you hear the words “microplastic pollution?” Your mind may immediately go to imagery of colorful fragmented plastics broken off from bottles, buckets and other items we use in our everyday lives. Or, perhaps, you imagine a pile of microplastic fibers—the tiny, squiggly, spaghetti-shaped plastics that shed from our synthetic clothing. You may be surprised to hear there is another major source of microplastic pollution that’s hiding in plain sight, quite literally under our feet, that might change how you think about microplastics: tire particles.
We all know tires wear down over time—that’s why we have to replace them on our cars roughly every 60,000 miles or so. Every time a vehicle accelerates, brakes or simply drives down the road, the friction between its tires and the pavement creates tiny fragments of rubber, known as tire wear particles.
Driving a car or even riding in a bus is a bit like dragging an eraser across the planet, except the crumbs are microplastics. Toxic microplastics.
Tires are made from a complex mix of natural and synthetic rubber along with a range of additives, fillers and chemical compounds—some of which, like the preservative 6PPD, have been shown to be highly toxic to coho salmon when they break down into derivative product 6PPD-Q in the environment—even in tiny concentrations.
Some studies have shown that a single vehicle’s tires can emit more than two trillion particles per mile driven—and that the average person generates nearly two pounds of tire particles per year! Once these particles are shed from tires, they don’t just disappear. Some are small and light enough to become airborne, drifting away from roadways as dust. Others settle on road surfaces, where they accumulate until the next heavy rain washes them into storm drains and from there, into streams, rivers and eventually the ocean.
That’s why tire wear particles are now considered one of the top sources of microplastics to the environment. In fact, until recent developments in analytical methods, scientists weren’t reliably able to detect tire wear particles in microplastic counts—thus, these pesky microplastics may have been evading our detection for years.
Why green infrastructure may be one of our best near-term solutions
Unlike some sources of plastic pollution, we can’t simply stop driving overnight. Reformulating tire rubber to be less toxic or shed less material, while promising, will take time to develop, test and scale across the global vehicle fleet. So, what can we do about tire wear particle pollution right now?
This is where green infrastructure comes in. Green infrastructure refers to engineered natural systems (things like bioswales, rain gardens, roadside buffers and permeable pavement) that are designed to slow down, filter and treat stormwater before it reaches rivers, lakes and coastlines. Instead of routing runoff directly into storm drains and out to sea, green infrastructure gives contaminated water a chance to percolate through soil, plants and other natural filtration media, which helps trap microplastics, including tire wear particles, preventing them moving further downstream.
Early research on green infrastructure has been promising, showing that these systems are quite effective at capturing microplastics and other contaminants carried in road runoff. But there’s a critical piece we still don’t fully understand: What would it take to scale up green infrastructure across an entire city, and how much of a dent would that actually make in long-term tire wear particle pollution?
Our research on green infrastructure capture of tire wear particles
Funded by the Tire Industry Project, our plastics science and policy teams at Ocean Conservancy have partnered with the University of Toronto on a new study evaluating the costs and benefits of scaling up green infrastructure at the city level specifically to capture tire wear particles.
If you happen to be driving on the roadways of Portland, Oregon, you may spot our scientists crouched over, precariously scooping dirt with spoons from a sample area on the roadside. Don’t be alarmed—that’s just us doing science! Feel free to give us a wave.
Ocean Conservancy is currently working to:
- Quantify the scale of pollution: Collect road dust samples from 30 cities globally to measure both total microplastic and tire wear particle concentrations and determine how different variables (population density, road size, rainfall) might influence those values.
- Assess feasibility: Determine what it would take realistically—logistically, financially and spatially—to scale up green infrastructure across an entire city.
- Model positive impacts: Estimate how much city-scale green infrastructure could reduce tire wear particle pollution entering aquatic ecosystems.
- Compare across cities: Understand how well these solutions might translate across different urban contexts, focusing on Portland, Oregon; Toronto, Canada; and London, England as case-study cities.
- Make our findings accessible: Produce a public-facing toolkit to help city planners, engineers and advocates guide real-world implementation of infrastructure that captures tire-wire particles.
By pairing rigorous science with practical guidance, we hope to help cities move from asking “Could this work?” to confidently building solutions that we know can be effective.
Give today and make a difference!
How can I help?
Tire wear particle pollution can feel like an overwhelming problem. After all, it’s tied to transportation, which most of us rely on every day. But that’s exactly why research like this matters: It gives us a real, near-term path forward that doesn’t require waiting for the entire global transportation system to change first.
You can help by staying engaged with Ocean Conservancy as we continue to dig into solutions for the plastic pollution crisis—one roadway, one storm drain and one city at a time. Together, we can keep working toward a world and ocean free of plastic pollution, forever and for everyone.
The post What are Tire Wear Particles? appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.
A small jellyfish-like animal recently reported from Vejle Fjord has attracted attention. Clear photographs suggest that it belongs to the genus Gonionemus and may possibly be the clinging jellyfish, Gonionemus vertens (Picture courtesy to Jonas Bøgelund Poulsen)
Unlike the large jellyfish commonly encountered along Danish coasts, Gonionemus vertens is a small hydromedusa, usually only around 1.5–2.5 centimetres across. Its transparent bell reveals four coloured reproductive structures arranged like a cross. Numerous fine tentacles surround the bell, often appearing bent or angled. Small adhesive pads near the ends of the tentacles allow the animal to attach itself to eelgrass, seaweed and other submerged vegetation.
This unusual behaviour explains its English name: the clinging jellyfish. During the day, it often remains attached to vegetation rather than drifting freely with the current. At night, it becomes more active and swims into the water column to feed on zooplankton and small crustaceans. Consequently, it can easily remain unnoticed even in places where it is already established. Another reason the species can be difficult to detect is its life cycle. The visible medusa is only one stage. For much of its life, the animal may persist as a minute polyp attached to a hard surface, shell or vegetation. These inconspicuous polyps can reproduce asexually and later release new medusae when environmental conditions become favourable.
Gonionemus vertens is generally considered native to the northern Pacific but has been introduced into several parts of Europe and the Atlantic. Transport on ship hulls, in ballast water or with movements of oysters and other marine organisms has been suggested as possible pathways, although the pathway responsible for any particular occurrence is rarely known with certainty.
Despite its delicate appearance, the animal should not be touched. Some populations possess powerful stinging cells and have caused intense pain, swelling, muscle cramps and, in rare cases, serious allergic reactions. Sting severity differs considerably among regions, which is one reason researchers suspect that animals currently grouped under the name G. vertens may represent a complex of closely related forms.
The Vejle Fjord observation is therefore scientifically interesting, but it should not yet be presented as a confirmed record of G. vertens. Anyone encountering a similar animal should photograph it without handling it and record the date, exact location, approximate size, number observed and surrounding habitat. Observations can be submitted to Denmark’s national species portal, Arter, where they can be evaluated and contribute to tracking changes in Danish marine biodiversity. Please use either my App: GoJelly JellySpotter or reprot to the Arter.dk: Gonionemus taxon page and Danish species-reporting portal.
References:
Edwards, C. (1977). A study in erratic distribution: The occurrence of the medusa Gonionemus in relation to the distribution of oysters. Advances in Marine Biology, 14, 251–284. DOI: 10.1016/S0065-2881(08)60448-4.
Govindarajan, A. F., Källström, B., Selander, E., Östman, C., & Dahlgren, T. G. (2019). The highly toxic and cryptogenic clinging jellyfish Gonionemus sp. (Hydrozoa, Limnomedusae) on the Swedish west coast. PeerJ, 7, e6883. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.6883.
The JOIDES Resolution (JR) was a renowned, international, scientific research ship. It was home to over 190 expeditions, each sailing for 60 days at a time without docking. Scientists and crew members from all over the world met to discover Earth’s secrets through studying ocean cores. Every two months the JR would get a new crew, sailing to an entirely new place. This once in a lifetime experience forms special and unforgettable social connections.
Since working on the JR I’ve kept those connections strong with snail mail. I have always been an avid penpal, so meeting new friends means new addresses to send my letters and postcards to. Experiences like sailing on the JOIDES Resolution or participating in programs like OCEAN CORE Academy is one of the ways I’ve met people from all over the world.
Now that the JR is retired, there is no more scientific research drilling being done through the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). But, there is still plenty to learn from ocean cores, and plenty of people to meet through programs like OCEAN CORE Academy (OCA). OCA is an annual summer opportunity from the U.S. Scientific Support Program (USSSP) that hosts undergraduates interested in geoscience related careers. Students can apply to this program for a chance to research and study data recovered from cores originally brought up by the JR, now located at the Gulf Coast Repository (GCR) in College Station, Texas. Students also practice forms of science communication with the guide of mentors. As a science communicator and fan of snail mail, I ran a craft night teaching students how to make and send science-themed postcards.
Fig. 1) students using watercolor to paint onto 4 by 6 inch board paper, a photo of a thin section slide is in the background. Photo by Dr. Leah Joseph.
For this project, we based the cover image of the postcards off of rock thin section slides. These slides are a slice of a hard rock or mineral that’s been glued to a microscope slide, sanded to 0.03 millimeter thickness, and polished. Thin section slides are used to identify grain size, shape, color, and other physical properties. This helps scientists understand the textural relationships between the rocks and determine the origin or evolution of the parent rock. Thin sections can also be helpful for identifying minerals using cross polarized light (XPL). XPL reduces light reflection and glare, commonly used for sunglasses and professional photography, but in a polarizing microscope, XPL is used to create a dark field causing certain minerals to appear brighter and more visible. Different colors are associated with different minerals, and as the stage of the microscope rotates, light passes through the slide in unique ways aiding scientists with identification. Identifying minerals can help scientists in understanding more about where the rocks came from and how old they are. These thin sections are not only informative, but are incredibly beautiful, making unique and stunning postcard covers.
Fig. 2) Examples of thin section slides under a XPL microscope, bronzitite (left) and gabbro (right). Sourced from here.
After the OCA students finished their paintings, my home-made “post card” stamps go on the back, a stamp gets added, and they’re ready to be mailed out. Although most OCA participants this year were U.S. based, they came from all over, ranging from Staten Island to San Francisco to Arizona to Connecticut. In addition to one mentor from New Zealand! For many of these students this was their first time traveling on their own, and their first time forming long-distance connections. With these scientific postcards, OCA students can stay connected by reminding each other of the science they learned together. My experience on the JR taught me great things about geological research, but it also gave me life long connections that I cherish. Although the JR is gone, its legacy lives on in our memories and the ways we stay connected with friends. I’m grateful to know that even without an international ship, I’m still able to add friends to my address book.
Fig. 3) Examples of participant made postcards
Written by Kellan Moss
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