Blue Beluga Whales

Long description

Our group wanted to take a look at the Great Pacific garbage patch and dive into what we could do to help target the plastics and microplastics that prove a constant threat to marine life. Our idea started with the usage of nets that would catch and collect plastics, but we wanted to go further and look at the smaller pieces. One of our members recalled the idea of engineers using a bacteria to break down oil in oil spills, and we decided we wanted to use this same idea, but with a bacteria that breaks down plastic. Plastic-eating bacteria exist, and we wanted to coat our nets in them, so that the plastic would not only be removed from the ocean, but also get broken down and disintegrated. This especially helps with the microplastics, that are harder to pick up due to their small size, and dissolving them would be much more effective than attempting to collect them. Finally, we want to make our nets biodegradable, and ensure the plastic-eating bacteria we use is safe for marine life, in order to protect the ocean animals.

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