By Nicole Woolcock
A curious, shining object glimmers through the tentacle-like arms of a knotted pile of kelp along the beach. Upon further inspection of the object, a pang of sadness dims the original excitement of coming across an interesting beach find. This is not a dazzling sea treasure but a piece of discarded trash.
“Often the plastic you pick up on the beach is something you’ve used and thrown away without thinking about it,” says Dr. Jenni Brandon, biological oceanographer and microplastics expert at Applied Ocean Sciences, “so you feel personally guilty for the problem.” She explains that microplastics—tiny pieces of plastic often undetected by the human eye—are found everywhere, including our oceans, food sources, wind, and sediment. This means we are ingesting microplastics every day.
Continue reading “Dr. Jenni Brandon: Microplastics Pioneer and Ocean Advocate”