Might look like a microplastic

Hello! My name is Kassandra Dudek and I'm a PhD student at Arizona State University studying environmental life science. The environment of interest is no big deal and only covers 71% of our planet, contains 97% of our water, and 99% of living space, and that is of course the ocean (Yes, I study the ocean while living in the desert). I, along with my lab mate, good friend, and sanity supervisor Bianca Cruz, will be traveling to Bocas del Toro, Panama to study microplastics, and our tears journey shall be documented here. So a little backstory... Microplastics, plastic particles smaller than 5 mm, are emerging marine pollutants. Because of their abundance in almost every marine habitat around the globe and their long residence time, it is of significance to understand their impact on marine habitats and the life that resides there. Microplastics are readily ingested by high-level marine biota and can also serve as a pelagic habitat for microorganisms, p