Project: 
Project C2 - Continental-scale tracking of threats to shallow Australian reef ecosystems
Researcher email address: 
scott.ling@utas.edu.au
Topic: 
Microplastic particles and filaments recovered from sub-tidal marine sediments
Species of interest in the image: 
Microplastic particles and filaments recovered from sub-tidal marine sediments
Species scientific name: 
Microplastic particles and filaments recovered from sub-tidal marine sediments
Date: 
July, 2016
Location: 
Eastern Australia
Hub imagery ID: 
2977
Habitat: 
Soft sediment communities
Paper / Report link / Title / Story / URL: 
Ubiquity of microplastics in coastal seafloor sediments
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Caption: 
Seafloor examples and prevalence of microplastics in south eastern Australia as sampled by Hub researchers
Media type to be uploaded: 
still image
Attribution: 
IMAS, UTAS
Credit: 
Scott Ling
Contact email address: 
Scott Ling
Description: 
In 2015, the Hub facilitated the collection of marine sediment samples for detection of marine microplastics from nearshore seafloor sediments across south eastern Australia. The sampling involved surveying a range of locations previously assessed by IMAS and Reef Life Survey with the aim to correlate reef community patterns with a range of pollutants, including microplastics as shown here. Microplastics were found in all samples analysed and were chiefly present as microfibre filaments. Colour bar indicates relative abundance across sampling stations, while horizontal scale bar is 0.5 mm in length.