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Testing Kayakers as Citizen Scientists for monitoring microplastics in the coastal marine environment
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Researchers tested the feasibility of using kayakers as citizen scientists to monitor microplastics in coastal marine environments through the 'MicroPlastic Hunters Project' in Italy, equipping volunteers with mini-manta nets to collect nearshore surface water samples starting in March 2021. The project demonstrated that recreational water sports participants could effectively fill spatial monitoring gaps left by conventional research vessel-based methods.
Microplastics (MPs) contamination has been widely assessed in the marine ecosystem, although the coastal marine zones, remain poorly investigated. This lack in knowledge is overall related to the difficulty in collecting coastal samples by using the traditional equipment (i.e Manta net, MSFD instrument), that required a research vessel to be deployed. To fill this gap, the "MicroPlastic Hunters Project", a Citizen Science project lead by the CNR-IAS of Genoa, with Auxiliary Coast Guard, Outdoor Portofino, Marevivo Onlus and the Italian Naval League and supported by different scientific projects, was launched. The aim of the project was to educate a team composed of sportsmen and lovers of the sea, to carry out sampling by using a little version of the Manta net called Mini-manta specifically built for the project. Mini-manta nets can be easily trawled in the nearshore coastal areas by recreational sports floating gear like kayaks. Five sampling activities, starting on March 2021 were performed in the Ligurian Sea, collecting surface water samples along three coastal transects by using both Mini-manta net pulled by the "MicroPlastic Hunters" and traditional Manta net towed from boats by researchers to compare the different methods. The results showed that MP abundances in the nearshore sampled by Mini-manta net were on average higher than those collected offshore by using the traditional Manta net. However, no differences in term of shape, size, and composition between the two methods used, were observed, suggesting the validation of the Mini-manta net. This project represents a paradigm shift in MP research, demonstrating how citizen science can be an effective tool in helping science in collecting data creating not only the basis for improving sampling monitoring capacity but also to increase people awareness about emerging contaminants such as MPs through an active and emotional involvement. Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/558927/document
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Testing Kayakers as Citizen Scientists for monitoring microplastics in the coastal marine environment
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Researchers tested recreational kayakers as citizen scientists for coastal microplastic monitoring by deploying mini-manta nets in the Ligurian Sea alongside traditional manta nets towed by research vessels across five sampling campaigns beginning March 2021. They found that microplastic abundances in nearshore areas sampled by kayak-towed mini-manta nets were on average higher than offshore samples, with no significant differences in shape, size, and composition between the two sampling approaches.
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