New discovery means now no escaping microplastic in our oceans

There’s now no escaping microplastic pollution in our oceans – as the Daily Express can reveal traces were found in the most remote water on the planet. 

Earlier this year we exclusively reported how British adventurer Chris Brown, 62, and son Mika, 30, launched the first expedition to Point Nemo – the furthest oceanic point from any land on Earth. 

It’s 2,688km or 1,670 miles from land, as first calculated by Croatian surveyor Hrvoje Lukatela in 1992 using geo-spatial data at 45º52.6S, 123º23.6W – hundreds of miles from shipping lanes or round the world yacht race ‘marks’. 

Scientists have long described it a ‘dead zone’ as its remoteness, weak ocean currents and lack of nutrients make it unable to support developed marine life. 

But when Brown, of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, reached Point Nemo last March he took a water sample now found by Finland’s MeasureLabs to contain a particle of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) measuring 50-100 μm (micrometre). 

PET is used for food and toiletry packaging with fibres also making clothes, carpets, and other textiles – and we can reveal that one, lone particle has sent shockwaves of alarm around the marine science community.

Britta Baechler, director of oceans plastic research at the US non-for-profit Ocean Conservancy, told us: “Our global environment is so dynamic and water and air move, so plastics of all sizes are able to be transported very long distances from our densely populated coastal areas worldwide, all the way out to these special, extremely remote places, like Point Nemo. 

“I feel really concerned. I think it’s easy to feel despondent, because it’s very clear that microplastics have become an insidious global pollutant.” 

While Emily Jeffers, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental charity based in Tucson, Arizona, U.S, added: “I’m disappointed but not surprised that microplastics have been found at the ends of the earth.  

“Everywhere scientists have looked, from the ocean floor to the peaks of our highest mountains and even in the clouds above, they’ve found microplastics. 

“These substances are putting our health at risk by getting into our water and even our blood.  

“The only way to end microplastic pollution is to stop making so much plastic, and we hope countries fight hard for a global treaty that limits plastic production at the negotiations in Busan later this month.” 

Busan, South Korea, is the site of the fifth and final session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) on Plastic Pollution, taking place from Monday November 25th. 

Microplastics are a huge issue for the world’s oceans, but also for the creatures and fish who live in them and the food chains we rely on.  

It’s estimated 1.15 to 2.41 million tonnes of plastic enter our oceans each year from rivers. More than half of this plastic is less dense than the water, meaning that it will not sink once it encounters the sea.

Britta Baechler added: “Right now, we know about 1,300 marine species have been found to ingest plastic. 

“Providing a little bit more light on that topic, there was a research review paper published looking at data from 2019 to 2020, looking at fish all around the world studied for plastic.  

“Sixty per cent of fish now contain microplastics. And in particular, microfibers are the most prevalent category of microplastics ingested by marine fish and by shellfish, like crustaceans and bivalves.  

“They’re also ingested by birds and mammals. Blue whales, for example – the biggest, largest living marine animal.  

“They consume up to 10 million pieces of microplastics per day. And this is this is concerning because plastics, by nature, contain chemicals – and a number of different studies have shown that ingestion of microplastics by wildlife can be associated with some very negative health outcomes for them. 

“Those can be things like reducing food consumption, impairing growth, altering behaviour – so that they’re not avoiding predators as they should – decreasing their reproductive output and reducing their energy for growth.  

“All of these things are incredibly concerning. They span the gamut in terms of impacts by species and factor, but definitely cause for concern.” 

But she says we still have time to turn the tide, even if it’s not “possible to effectively or efficiently clean them up from the environment on a broad scale.” 

She added: “What gives me hope is there are known solutions to prevent them further infiltrating our environment and even human bodies, where they’ve been found in our most sensitive organs – brains, reproductive organs and even mothers’ breast milk. 

“Luckily, we have some very solid science, and it’s very clear on what those solutions are. The first is that we have to produce less plastic.  

“We make so much plastic, and it is so prevalent in our daily lives, that there’s no wonder it’s ultimately made its way to the ocean.  

“We’re not necessarily handling microplastics in our daily lives but the large plastics we use are shampoo bottles, detergent bottles, take out cutlery, etc –  those all break down into microplastics when subjected to wind and waves and salt. 

“We have to produce less in order for fewer plastics to be leaked into the environment and the ocean and have to manage the plastics that we do have much better. Recycling rates globally are dismally low.  

“There are a number of opportunities where we can improve our recapture and reuse of plastics and improve recycling so that plastics are managed better, and again, fewer are leaked to the environment.  

“And the final pillar is that the science shows that we also need to clean up plastics that are already in the environment and Ocean Conservancy has been leading the charge on removing plastics and debris from our coastlines and oceans.”

Chris Brown, 62, sailed to Nemo in March with son Mika to become the first person ever to lead a specific expedition to what is also known as the planet’s sole Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility. 

There are believed to be no fish or other marine life in the area with the lack of nutrients making it difficult for even the hardiest species to survive – and the ocean there is four kilometres deep and the surface water temperature 7C. 

Currently, only bacteria and tiny crabs have been discovered to live in the volcanic vents on the seafloor nearby with scientists describing it as “the least biologically active region of the world ocean.” 

Yet when Brown was there he was attacked by a giant Albatross while in the water with Mika celebrating their achievement, leading him to believe there must be fish, or other sea-life thriving nearby. 

The entrepreneur from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, aims to be the first man to visit all eight of the planet’s poles of inaccessibility, having already ticked off five of the seven land-based ones, and Nemo. 

Brown has already visited five of Earth’s seven ‘Poles of Inaccessibility’ – the furthest place on a continent from any sea – in Antarctica (accompanied by astronaut Buzz Aldrin in 2016), Australia, Africa, North America and South America, with Europe and Asia still to do. 

Point Nemo was first identified by Hrvoje Lukatela 34 years ago using Digital Chart of the World data – with the name a reference to Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo, ‘Nemo’ is Latin for ‘no-one’, from the novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. 

The first ship to sail close to Point Nemo was the Spanish research vessel Hespérides in 1999 and while ocean race competitors approach the area, it is not a ‘mark’ so the boats only need to be ‘close’ by.

Point Nemo lies perilously close to the 50-degree latitude line where sailors say, ‘There is no God’, but is also known as the ‘spacecraft graveyard’ as it’s that region of ocean where satellites and other space junk are targeted to crash to Earth, once no longer in service.

The International Space Station (ISS) will be dumped at Nemo in 2031 when it descends – and while at Nemo, the closest human inhabitation to Brown were the crew of astronauts on that same ISS.

It’s in an area called The South Pacific Gyre which is a complex system of rotating currents in the Pacific; a convergence of The Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the Humboldt Current and the West Wind Drift.

The nearest land to Point Nemo is the Pitcairn Islands 2,688km away, while the nearest humans were those astronauts on the ISS, 408km above them in low earth orbit.

Digital marketing tycoon Brown said of the microplastic find: “Taken with seabirds being in the area, suggesting to me that there are food sources in a region supposed to be of very low biodiversity, perhaps there’s time for us to turn things around.”

Brown hit the headlines around the world in June 2023 when it emerged that he pulled out of the doomed trip to the wreck of the Titanic on the Titan submersible – which later imploded killing five on board – amid safety concerns. 

He was friends with British billionaire Hamish Harding, one of the five passengers on Titan and initially drawn to embarking on the expedition due to the historic and scientific possibilities. 

The thrill-seeker paid a deposit for the mission to the wreck along with now deceased billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, but he changed his mind when he saw the basic technology being used in the OceanGate craft. 

He said: “I found out they used old scaffolding poles for the sub’s ballast — and its controls were based on computer game-style controllers.

“If you’re trying to build your own submarine you could probably use old scaffold poles. But this was a commercial craft. Eventually I said, ‘I’m no longer able to go on this thing’. I asked for a refund after being less than convinced.”