MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Team of scientists on board HMS Protector studying impact of plastic waste in Antarctica

Portsmouth University scientists Dr. Keiron Roberts and Dr. Adele Julier

A scientist team aboard the Royal Navy icebreaker is uncovering the damage plastic waste is having on Antarctica. As part of efforts to preserve one of the world’s most unique and fragile environments, critical work has been carried out by researchers from the University of Portsmouth aboard polar research vessel HMS Protector.

 The United Nations estimates that more than eight million metric tons of plastic enter the planet’s oceans every year, posing a severe threat to global ecosystems.

Dr Keiron Roberts, a senior lecturer in sustainability and the built environment, and a member of the Revolution Plastics Institute used a drone to survey the Antarctic coastline, pinpointing areas where litter has washed ashore, but also took water samples and marine sediments to measure the human impact – especially through tourism – on the frozen continent.

The research comes at an important time, showing that plastic is infiltrating a previously unspoiled environment as progress is made on a global treaty to end plastic pollution.
At the same time, pollen samples from the air and from mosses were being collected by Dr Adele Julier, a senior lecturer and palaeo-ecologist, to look at climate and weather changes across Antarctica.

The two scientists will now analyze the results of their studies at their laboratories in Portsmouth.

Dr. Roberts said: “Coming from a navy family, being on board HMS Protector has been a bucket-list experience. The crew’s support has been incredible, and this time among them is something I’ll treasure forever.

“Without the crew of HMS Protector this valuable data would not be possible to collect. With their help we are now building up an evidence base of the impacts that humans are having in the region, particularly micro-plastics, and hope to continue this work with them moving forward.”Dr Julier added: “Setting pollen slides around the ship and counting pollen every day at a microscope in the warfare room has been a surreal and fascinating experience.

“The crew has all been so welcoming and friendly, and have put up admirably with me getting way too excited about finding moss.”

HMS Protector is now headed for Punta Arenas at the southern tip of Chile for a rotation of some of her crew with colleagues from back in the UK as she prepares for the next phase of her Antarctic deployment.