A Dh100 million ($27.2 million) research centre in Sharjah is aiming to help educate people about how their actions can affect marine life.
Sharjah Marine Science Research Centre, overlooking Shark Island in Khor Fakkan, was opened last week by Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah. As well as becoming a major tourist attraction, the centre will play a key role in helping people connect with science, said director Stephen Widdicombe.
"We want to engage with the public and particularly through citizen science, but also through enhancing ocean literacy," he said. "The idea that people are going to be more informed of the consequences of the decisions they take in their daily lives and the impact that might have on the ocean. Then they can make better decisions in terms of what it is they would do with their litter, or the use of water, or how they behave when they're at the sea.
"We need to be conscious of the impacts we make, the decisions we make and the implications that have for not only the marine creatures we share the ocean with, but also the goods and services it provides us.”
The centre will provide an opportunity to show science need not be perceived as solely an academic pursuit, Mr Widdicombe said. "I think it's imperative that science isn't seen as some kind of isolated entity that is just there for the academic pursuit of knowledge," he added.
The centre features 12 laboratories covering fields such as histology, microbiology and environmental analysis. It is also home to an advanced microscopy centre, a marine chemistry analysis unit and facilities for remote sensing and geographic information systems.
Need for action
It is no secret that plastic pollution is a major problem for marine life. However, despite the issue being highlighted time and again by the media, issues remain with getting the message across to everyone, said Mr Widdicombe.
The challenges for those trying to protect marine life were laid bare in a study carried out by scientists from the Environment and Protected Areas Authority in Sharjah and the American University of Sharjah.
The researchers analysed the contents of the gastrointestinal tracts of 478 seabirds from 17 species found dead off Sharjah’s coast from the beginning of 2017 to the end of 2023. Birds analysed included black-headed gulls, large white-headed gulls and Socotra cormorants.
When a sample of 20 birds was looked at as part of the same study, all contained microplastics, tiny particles formed from the break-up of larger pieces of plastic.
More than three-quarters of the microplastic particles were microfibres, probably from laundry. These can cause scarring and inflammation of the animals' digestive tract.
"We ran a beach clean-up last week with students and they said, 'Why are we cleaning the beach? Everything's clean.' In an hour, we pulled 250kg of plastic waste off the beach," Mr Widdicombe said. "We continuously have to do it because the whole relationship between people and the waste they generate needs to change."
While the centre has opened and everything is new, the director said that the building itself is only the first step. He is hoping to fill many positions before the end of this academic year so that research is properly up and running.
“The building was the easy part," he said. "Ocean stewardship doesn't just reside with one or two of us, it resides with all of us. We all need to play our part in protecting what is the most incredible ecosystem on the planet."
