Hello! My name is Ashlin Slanger, I am going to be a senior at the University of Montana this year. I study molecular biology and biochemistry, and my GLI theme is global and public health. This summer, I took an internship studying marine conservation in Greece. I stayed on several islands during my time there in an archipelagos called Dodecanese. The main locations were in Samos, where I lived the first half of the summer, and Lipsi, where I moved for the final half of summer. My goal for this experience was to learn more about how the state of the oceans affect the health and wellness of coastal populations. I knew the wellbeing of our oceans was poor, but being from a landlocked state I never truly had to face the issue of pollutants in the sea.
My time in Greece has forever changed the way I will live my life. I have learned so much about plastics in the ocean. The organization I worked for, Archipelagos Institute for Marine Conservation, collects data on the dissections of dead sea life washed ashore. For the past three years, 100% of the sea turtles had plastic in their stomachs. On top of this, microplastics are found in most fish, making their way into human bodies as well. In the Mediterranean Sea, 730 tonnes of plastic enters the waters each day. That is the equivalent of 100 elephants in plastic. In Samos, our team would do beach cleanups every day with the hope to minimize some of the plastics entering the ocean and to collect data on the types of plastic circulating the sea. Single use plastics are the driver of such immense pollution, and must be regulated. Even if a small effort is made to minimize plastic use it could greatly benefit ocean life, and in turn, our own lives.
On top of the plastic collection I worked on several other projects this summer. I studied species of the Mediterranean Sea and learned how to properly identify them in the water. We would write down the species we saw with underwater paper and count how many of each to quantify them. We keep data on the abundance of species and also on invasive/alien species. I also helped with efforts to replant seagrass meadows, which have been shrinking due to climate change. This is an extremely arduous process because each seed or fragment must be planted by hand into hand-sewn biodegradable burlap bags. We collect seeds and uprooted fragments during our surveys as well as particular sediment from the ocean floor to use for planting. In total, I have helped plant over 1,000 individual seagrass seeds and fragments!
I have learned a lot about how the environment affects human populations, especially living in Greece during the longest heat wave ever recorded in the country's history. Fires erupted in surrounding islands, burning many homes and threatening the lives of thousands. I was afraid my time here would be cut short, especially when a small fire popped up on Samos. Fortunately, they were able to put it out quickly and we didn't have another after that! The shops on every island set up donation bins for families who lost homes in the fires, and interns would give what we could. Even after the fires and the very real threat of ocean plastic to humans and animals alike, so many people fail to practice greener alternatives which may mitigate these issues. I have taken so much from this amazing experience, and I feel fully transformed as a person having completed this internship.
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