Research at Sea Competition 2025 – Team 3 investigates microplastics in the Elbe

This week, the ALDEBARAN travelled from Cuxhaven up the Elbe to Hamburg with the team from Struensee Gymnasium Hamburg.

Quynh Anh Chu, Vanessa Adu Mensuoh and Maria Fernanda Salazar Clemente collected water samples using Niskin bottles and plankton nets, filtered them and stained them with Nile red. The result: in all samples, we found massive traces of microplastics in the form of fluorescent particles, as well as plastic fibres among the plankton, clearly showing how much microplastics are changing our food chain.