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/ Home / microplastics

microplastics

Haunting the seas: the legacy of ghost gear pollution in marine environments

Haunting the seas: the legacy of ghost gear pollution in marine environments

“Ghost gear” is a specific category of anthropogenic marine debris that contributes to the global marine plastics problem. After it becomes disconnected from its intended use, ghost gear can catch non-targeted species – such as fish, whales or other marine mammals – through by-catch or entanglement

Posted in 2024, IOFNews, News Release | Tagged with ghost gear, IOF students, microplastics, OPRU, plastic, pollution, Shoreline cleanup

Microplastics may be accumulating at a high rate in endangered Galápagos penguins’ food web

Microplastics may be accumulating at a high rate in endangered Galápagos penguins’ food web

The model predictions showed a rapid increase in microplastic accumulation and contamination across the penguins’ prey organisms resulting in Galápagos penguin displaying the highest level of microplastics per biomass, followed by barracuda, anchovy, sardine, herring, and salema and predatory zooplankton.

Posted in 2024, IOFNews, News Release | Tagged with Ecuador, Galápagos, IOF alumni, IOF Research Associates, IOF students, Juan Jose Alava, microplastics, OPRU, penguins, plastic, pollution, Research

From convenience to crisis: The single-use water sachet dilemma in Africa

From convenience to crisis: The single-use water sachet dilemma in Africa

In some African countries, the rate of single-use plastic waste is increasing. Article from the Solving FCB unit.

Posted in 2023, IOFNews, News Release | Tagged with East Africa, FERU, Ibrahim Issifu, IOF postdoctoral fellows, microplastics, plastic, pollution, Solving FCB, water, West Africa

New WORKING PAPER: Ecological Impacts of Marine Plastic Pollution, Microplastics’ Foodweb Bioaccumulation Modelling and Global Ocean Footprint: Insights into the Problems, the Management Implications and Coastal Communities Inequities

New WORKING PAPER: Ecological Impacts of Marine Plastic Pollution, Microplastics’ Foodweb Bioaccumulation Modelling and Global Ocean Footprint: Insights into the Problems, the Management Implications and Coastal Communities Inequities

The Nippon Foundation-Ocean Litter Project (2019-2023)

Posted in 2023, IOFNews | Tagged with food webs, IOF Research Associates, Juan Jose Alava, microplastics, ocean, OPRU, plastic, pollution, Publications, Research

Tips for reducing your plastic use

Tips for reducing your plastic use

Here are some clever tips on how to reduce your plastic use.

Posted in 2023, IOFNews | Tagged with International Plastic Free Day, IOF Research Associates, Juan Jose Alava, microplastics, OPRU, plastic

May 25 is International Plastic Free Day!

May 25 is International Plastic Free Day!

Plastic is everywhere. It’s in our oceans, coastal areas, and buried deep in the soil. It’s in our food and our water, and wreaks havoc on the natural world around us.

Posted in 2023, IOFNews, News Release | Tagged with International Plastic Free Day, IOF Research Associates, Juan Jose Alava, microplastics, OPRU, plastic

Darwin’s Eden awash in plastics

Darwin’s Eden awash in plastics

Penguin guano from the Galápagos is helping UBC researchers track microplastic pollution from around the globe

Posted in 2022, IOFNews, News Release | Tagged with Galápagos, IOF Research Associates, IOF students, Juan Jose Alava, microplastics, OPRU, penguins, Research, zooplankton

5 things you can do to help BC’s marine ecosystems

5 things you can do to help BC’s marine ecosystems

In the face of declining fish stocks like sockeye salmon, marine heatwaves and massive coastal die-offs, it can sometimes feel as though protecting our ocean ecosystems is a hopeless task. But there are things we can do.

Posted in 2022, IOFNews, News Release | Tagged with biodiversity, carbon footprint, Christopher Harley, climate change, ecosystems, marine ecosystems, microplastics, plastic, seafood, William Cheung

World Oceans Week 2022 – Dr. Juan José Alava

World Oceans Week 2022 – Dr. Juan José Alava

Any international effort to end plastic pollution must also contend with wealth disparities between nations, according to Dr. Alava. “In some developing countries, the reality is that people survive on plastic garbage.”

Posted in 2022, IOFNews, News Release | Tagged with Juan Jose Alava, microplastics, OPRU, World Ocean Day

Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Faculty of Science
Vancouver Campus
The University of British Columbia
AERL, 2202 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z4
Tel 604 822 2731
Website oceans.ubc.ca
Email info@oceans.ubc.ca
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