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> and I'm curious why they weren't sampling using the standard method of towed plankton nets Because the GOES Foundation use volunteer yachts to collect the da

by chomp 4y ago

> and I'm curious why they weren't sampling using the standard method of towed plankton nets Because the GOES Foundation use volunteer yachts to collect the data: https://www.goesfoundation.com/citizen-science-project/ https://www.goesfoundation.com/citizen-science-project/ >Twice a day, (if possible) we want you to take a 0.5 litre of sea water, put it through a GOES filter (developed by Dr.Jesus Ramon Barriuso Diez), count plankton, microplastics (fibres and beads) and any other particles which are over 20 microns. I believe they went with this method because it's easier for non-scientists to contribute to their study. They mention nets, but you're right in being suspicious in the method of collection. It does not seem like it uses best practices.

corncob15 4y ago
Not a marine biologist, but this seems like it would explain their entire findings. Yachts tend to hang out more around the tropics and less around murky waters in, say, the North Atlantic. Clear water, such as you'd find in the Bahamas, is clear precisely because of lower plankton populations[1]. By collecting data off of pleasure boats, they're corrupting the data right off the bat! 1: https://www.businessinsider.com/why-some-beaches-have-clear-blue-water-and-others-are-gray-2016-7 https://www.businessinsider.com/why-some-beaches-have-clear-...
- f7fg_u-_h 4y ago
  Great points, and additionally pleasure yachts stay relatively near coasts most of the time and don't navigate the deep water.
kelnos 4y ago
> I believe they went with this method because it's easier for non-scientists to contribute to their study. Which should probably cast their study in an even more negative light. Even ignoring the fact that the samples were collected contrary to a standard method, we can't be sure the samples collected by random people were actually all done in a similar way as each other.

by chomp 4y ago

corncob15 4y ago

Not a marine biologist, but this seems like it would explain their entire findings. Yachts tend to hang out more around the tropics and less around murky waters in, say, the North Atlantic. Clear water, such as you'd find in the Bahamas, is clear precisely because of lower plankton populations[1]. By collecting data off of pleasure boats, they're corrupting the data right off the bat! 1: https://www.businessinsider.com/why-some-beaches-have-clear-blue-water-and-others-are-gray-2016-7 https://www.businessinsider.com/why-some-beaches-have-clear-...

f7fg_u-_h 4y ago
Great points, and additionally pleasure yachts stay relatively near coasts most of the time and don't navigate the deep water.

kelnos 4y ago

> I believe they went with this method because it's easier for non-scientists to contribute to their study. Which should probably cast their study in an even more negative light. Even ignoring the fact that the samples were collected contrary to a standard method, we can't be sure the samples collected by random people were actually all done in a similar way as each other.