Julie Masura is heading out into Tacoma’s Commencement Bay in
search of plastic. She’s a researcher with the Center for Urban
Waters, where members of various academic and government
organizations come together to study water pollution and human-
environment interactions in Puget Sound. Getting down to the
particulars though: Masura is looking for microplastics, which
are defined as plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters. The
boat slows down to about 4 miles per hour and Masura drops over
the side a device that looks like the lovechild of a manta ray
and a model airplane. It’s got a wingspan of about four and a
half feet and a gaping mouth that hovers right at the surface.
Water rushes through the mouth as the boat moves along and gets
sifted through a long net floating behind it. After 15 minutes,
Masura pulls the net back into the boat to collect the sample.
In the bottom of the net tiny bits of brightly colored plastic
pepper the usual organic debris you’ll find floating in the
water column. Masura an