Research Agenda

SAMPLING OCEAN PLASTICS

Establishing a Nano & Micro Plastic Baseline

S/V Ocean Watch crew will conduct an Ocean Plastic Survey of marine debris, floating plastics and the increasingly ubiquitous micro-particles of undigestible plastics. The sampling protocol will be designed to be compatible with other international efforts. This will allow a map of the presence of plastics from original Around the Americas voyage to be updated and will support and encourage clean-up and recovery action.

ARGO FLOATS AND OCEAN DRIFTERS

Supplementing and Disseminating Existing Data Monitors

As a “ship of opportunity” S/V Ocean Watch will participate in the ongoing NOAA Argo Program. Scientists and crew will track, visit, activate and deploy Argo Floats in the existing program to maintain and fill out the existing Argo map. Information received from these floats and other student-launched floating “mini-boats” and “ocean drifters” will allow scientists, students and researchers across the Americas to dynamically track ocean data (temperature, salinity, dissolved Oxygen, pH).

eDNA

Establishing a Baseline Environmental DNA Around the Americas

Americas Ocean Watch will follow research protocols established by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) to build a catalogue of the marine biodiversity around the Americas. The scientists and crew of S/V Ocean Watch will freeze filter samples of ocean water taken at depth and time at each degree of latitude in each direction from Pole-to-Pole creating a live record of sea life, ranging from microbe to whale. Additionally, a Quantitative Phytoplankton Slide of each sample will be prepared for sharing in digital format and preserved for physical examination.