Nano- and Microplastic Particle Lengths and Surface Areas, analyzed with Epifluorescence microscopy, collected aboard two student cruises, SKrillEx I (July 2014) and SKrillEx II (June 2015).

Surface seawater was collected in stainless steel buckets aboard two student cruises, SKrillEx I (July 2014) and SKrillEx II (June 2015). Surface seawater samples were filtered on to 5-µm pore polycarbonate filters, and frozen at sea for later analysis. Once back on land, the frozen transparent polycarbonate (PC) filters were filtered on an all-glass apparatus and then imaged with modified epifluorescence microscopy techniques for microplastic particles. All microplastic particles were analyzed for plastic shape, length, surface area, and fluorescence.