Rachel Kippen, Our Ocean Backyard

I bought a microscope on sale last year during one of those gimmicky holidays I vowed to never participate in, Cyber Monday I think. It was the best purchase I’ve made in a long time.

My husband and I have spent countless hours staring at slugs from our planter boxes, fungus foraged from the manicured landscape of our rental complex, and plankton samples from a janky net I made out of a kava strainer and a wire hanger.

During the atmospheric rivers, we took samples of puddle water from our gutters and found it full of living microorganisms, including baby worms. Last week, I brought my best friend, the microscope, to the beach and nearly lost my mind staring at living, filter-feeding bryozoan colonies on a piece of kelp drifting in the intertidal.

Having a front row seat to the microorganisms that make up our macro community has provided us with an enhanced appreciation for the complexity of our urban and wild ecosystems. It's a reminder that there is so much more going on than meets the eye, quite literally. I exist in one scale that I am led to believe is the norm, but when I view elements of my surroundings under a microscope, my community is so much larger than I am able to regularly comprehend – it's just composed of really, really tiny life.

There is a downside to this microscopic exploration, however. In nearly every plankton sample I have collected, and on every single cluster of algae or holdfast I’ve pulled from the wrack line, I’ve found microplastic and microfibers. Small, bright blue and bright red fibers are commonly wrapped in algae bunches.

For the most part, I am certain of the identity of plastic pieces when they are colored, as white and clear flecks could be from natural sources and are harder to verify. However, the shape, flexibility, and texture of some pieces are simply unmistakable as plastics. I believe these samples contain even more plastic than I can perceive through the scope.

It's jarring to witness it first-hand. In 2019, oceanographer Anela Choy found microplastic throughout Monterey Bay. According to her study published in Scientific Reports, Choy and her team's research concluded that, "The Monterey Bay marine ecosystem is part of a network of marine protected areas and we found that water column microplastic concentrations match and exceed those found in other marine regions."

The study suggests that microplastic may be entering Monterey Bay marine food webs both at the surface and in the deep sea, and that the majority of the plastics are coming from consumer products.

Those of you who have read my columns during the past several years know that I previously believed that individual action was truly important, "Just stop using this stuff!" I’d say while I carted around reusable bottles and bags and containers that weren't ever quite as convenient as their single-use counterparts.

After a decade or so of that belief system not really panning out, I changed my tune and said instead, "It's all about the collective! Even if we individually use less plastic, we’d still need to push forward policies and stop corporate polluters if we want to make any dent on the issue."

This year, I’ve landed somewhere back in the middle and it's partially thanks to my microscopic friends. Yesterday I peeled a plastic microfiber from a baby barnacle that was trying to eat it while simultaneously being entangled in it. The barnacle was about the size of a pencil dot and made its home glued to a holdfast. At that moment, the collective wasn't going to unravel the plastic from the baby barnacle – I was. It's like "The Tale of the Starfish." A person finds sea stars washed up on the beach, dying, after a storm. They begin to pick up each star and throw them, one by one, back into the ocean.

They are approached by another person who questions why anyone would do something that seems so meaningless in the grand scheme of things. "You can't save all these sea stars, it won't make a difference, why are you doing this?" The sea star collector responds while they throw another star back into the ocean, "Well it made a difference to that one."

In conclusion, dear reader, this column serves as a reminder that we individually can prevent some of the plastic that winds up in our sanctuary through our personal and collaborative actions. It's Mother's Day when you read this (have a wonderful celebration) and it's graduation season, too.

The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council's Conservation Working Group and our many partners are asking, once again, that you skip the balloons for these momentous occasions. There's not one single mother or new graduate I know that wants an entangled sea bird in their honor. Fortunately, many superintendents, site administrators, teachers and families are opting to go balloon free.

Michelle Rodriguez, Pajaro Valley Unified School District superintendent, sent out reminders about the district's balloon ban, the first district to enact such a policy in our region. When asked about their progressive stance, Rodriguez responded, "I am proud that Pajaro Valley Unified School District recognizes the need to adapt and become more resilient to the impacts of climate change by implementing strategies and programs at the regional and local level to tackle environmental, social, and economic challenges." She continued, "We are working to ensure that all Pajaro Valley Unified School District students graduate as globally-minded citizens and are implementing policies such as our district-wide balloon ban to encourage our families to create healthy, livable, sustainable and economically resilient communities."

We can show appreciation for our mothers, mother earth and commemorate new beginnings while skipping toxic and hazardous products. If you’d like to share our Conservation Working Group's balloon-free graduation letter and graphics with your networks, please email me directly at [email protected].

Rachel Kippen is an ocean educator and sustainability advocate in Santa Cruz County and can be reached at [email protected].

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