ABSTRACT

Palau is a place surrounded by ocean! The ocean is the most

essential building block for life. Without the ocean, the Earth would not
be habitable for humans, animals or plants. It contains about 97% of all
the water on the Earth and it is from the ocean that we get our rain
water and ultimately our drinking water. At least 50% of the oxygen in
the atmosphere has come from the ocean. This means every second
breath you take comes from the ocean.
So, we can see that without the ocean, we wouldn’t be here! Not
only does the ocean provide us with food, water, medicines and other
resources, but it also provides many other essential ‘ecosystem
services’: the ocean makes sure that our climate is neither too hot nor
too cold, it manages some forms of human waste and it provides
inspiration for art, music and poetry.
But humans are putting too much pressure on the ocean. Climate
change and pollution are starving the ocean of oxygen, changing its
temperature and levels of acidity, and threatening its precious
biodiversity. Overfishing has put many species of fish on the
endangered list. And human activity at the coast is changing coastal
habitats. If we carry on mistreating the ocean, we will lose its vital
services
One problem of our ocean that will surely affect its habitat and
humans are microplastics. In order to be able to do something about this
problem, we need to know where the microplastics are, how much there
is and what type of plastic it is. This study aims to inform people how
bad microplastic is for the ocean, its habitat and to humans.