The activity report details the ""Less Plastic, More Mediterranean"" Campaign which started in June 24, 2017 from Genoa Liguria, the first Italian stop of the tour that Greenpeace carried out on board the Rainbow Warrior vessel in southern Europe and finished in Ancona in July 9 with a stopover in Naples.
Less Plastic, More Mediterranean"" has been a research and awareness tour - organized in Italy with the scientific collaboration of the Institute of Marine Sciences of CNR in Genoa and the Polytechnic University of the Marche - to gather direct data and testimonies on pollution from plastic that afflicts our seas and informs public opinion about this serious problem. The main goals of the monitoring campaign were to:
- Establish the extent of microplastic litter in the Mediterranean Sea along the Italian Coast both investigating the surface and vertical distribution to obtain information on the sinked plastics;
- Assess the microplastics bioaccumulation in the food chain (mesozooplankton, macroinvertebrate and fishes);
– Investigate polymeric composition of particles present both in water and organisms;
– Produce data to support the standardization and harmonization of develop the existing protocols to isolate and detect microplastics in water and marine organisms to enable accurate quantification, qualification and comparison between studies.