• The latest

    Macrolitter under the microscope

    Daily litter © Andrés Cózar, www.marinelitterlab.eu

  • About us

    UCA MARINE LITTER LAB

    Showing microplastics in a microcosms © Joan Costa

  • Projects

    MIDaS PROJECT

    Threatening litter © Andres Cózar

  • Projects

    GLOBAL LITTER OBSERVATORY

    Plastic Eyes © J. Costa & A. Cózar

  • Findings

    THE ARCTIC OCEAN AS A DEAD-END FOR THE FLOATING PLASTIC TRASH

    Seal on an iceberg in front of Tara vessel © Anna Deniaud

MALUCA Research Lab

UCA Marine Litter Lab (MALUCA) belongs to Department of Biology (Ecology Area) at the University of Cadiz (UCA), Spain.

The mass consumption and accelerated discard of human-made products is posing an acute disposal problem at a global scale, and the ocean is the sink for much of our waste. In MALUCA Lab, we generate science-based knowledge to underpin the decision making in the face of the environmental and social challenges posed by the accumulation of litter. Where and when litter accumulations appear?. Which products are the most harmful?. How marine life and ecosystems are affected?. How effective are the actions being taken to combat marine litter?.

Map

The global map shows the sampling effort on measuring plastic debris in the global ocean. Users can select environments (shoreline, surface waters and seafloor) and small or large items, below and above a threshold of about 2 cm, respectively.

Research on marine litter generates huge amounts of information. However, this seeming abundance of information is misleading. Marine litter comprises an extremely heterogeneous assemblage. Plastic is the dominant material, but items made of metal, textile, glass, paper, rubber, wood or ceramic can often be found in the ocean litter. If we focus on plastic items, they can reach up to several meters in length or be as small as a millionth part of one meter. This makes them susceptible to be transported by waves, by bottom currents through submarine canyons, or even by winds, so we find plastic debris everywhere.

Plastic litter is sampled in water, sediment, air, ice or organisms, but these samplings only provide partial views of wide spectrum of plastic sizes present in the nature. Our knowledge about the global distribution of plastic debris is very limited by our ability to integrate and compare datasets. We still don't have a complete vision of the marine litter issue.

SOME IMAGES OF OUR INVESTIGATIONS


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