Continuous monitoring of microplastic abundance in the North Atlantic

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Pollution levels of marine debris, including microplastics, are largely undocumented in the Atlantic Ocean. A standardised monitoring method is required to understand the distribution and abundance of microplastic pollution. Sampling of the Northeast Atlantic was conducted during research cruises aboard Ireland’s research vessel, the R.V. Celtic Explorer. Transects covering a total of 14,200 km were sampled through continuous monitoring of open ocean surface water resulting in 482 samples. Items classified as potential plastic were identified in 99% of samples. A total of 6,608 particles were identified, 92.5% were less than 5 mm in length therefore classifying them as microplastic. This is the first report of ubiquitous nature of microplastic pollution in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean and highlights the potential for the method to be used as a standardised monitoring protocol.