One of the principle scientific projects of the Polarquest expedition was its research of microplastic pollution in the ocean. A key element of this research was that it searched for plastic pollution in areas that had never before been researched. Data-collection is now complete and analysis of the samples is underway – however, we are not optimistic about what we will find. During the expedition, we did not have to look hard to find evidence of plastic pollution: we found plastic pieces visible to the naked eye in ocean waters as far as the edge of the North Pole ice-shelf, over 82 degrees Latitude North!

While countries around the world are now beginning to take action to limit plastic use, the oceans cannot wait for top-bottom solutions to fix this problem. The time to act is NOW!