Skip to content

Programs : Brochure

This page is the brochure for your selected program. You can view the provided information for this program on this page and click on the available buttons for additional options.

Plastics & Biodiversity in the Sargasso Sea (Directory Program)

Print  Save 

  • Locations: St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands; St. George's, Bermuda; Woods Hole MA, United States
  • Program Terms: Spring
  • Homepage: Click to visit
  • Program Sponsor: Sea Education Association 
Program Description:

Recent studies show that microplastic pollution in the Sargasso Sea has reached levels comparable to the Pacific Garbage Patch, posing a serious threat to the region's biodiversity and to migratory marine life, including species like sperm and humpback whales. However, multilateral efforts like the United Nations High Seas Treaty are on the forefront of modern biodiversity protection.The Sargasso Sea is home to a diverse range of marine species and plays a critical role in the life cycle of numerous threatened and endangered species. The Sargassum mats found within this region serve as a floating ecosystem that provides shelter and food to juvenile sea turtles, fish, and migratory birds. Dr. Sylvia Earle once named this unique ecosystem as “the golden floating rainforest of the Atlantic.” 

Using the same portable next generation sequencing platform employed on the International Space Station and in both the Arctic and Antarctic wilderness, students enrolled in SEA’s Plastics & Biodiversity in the Sargasso Sea program will learn how to use modern molecular tools to ask and answer ecological and conservation questions as they sail from the St. Croix to Woods Hole, MA. 

Crossing this unique open ocean ecosystem students will collect zooplankton specimens from the Sargasso Sea ecosystem and conduct group research projects addressing plastic impacts and biodiversity. Students will examine how the Sargasso Sea is responding to plastic pollution and climate change and gain a better understanding of how such research informs conservation policy.  

This program will support the work of the Sargasso Sea Commission by conducting research that directly informs their efforts to protect the Sargasso Sea, one of just a few sites designated for protection by the newly proposed UN Treaty for the High Seas (https://mpa.highseasalliance.org)

The program ends in Woods Hole, MA with a two-week second shore component in preparation for a student-led symposium that will invite experts from the surrounding region.  The symposium serves as a great networking opportunity for students.