Sources: Charles Darwin Foundation and Galapagos Conservancy
July 2007

Galapagos Conservancy and the Charles Darwin Foundation
warn about
Upcoming Experiment Involving Iron Dust and Phytoplankton

In an effort alleged to revert global warming, Planktos, Inc., a U.S. based enterprise, intends to seed the oceans near Galapagos with iron dust to stimulate phytoplankton blooms, the microscopic marine plants that soak up the energy of the sun to convert carbon dioxide into organic matter. 

The experiments were scheduled for late June 2007, but as yet have not taken place.  According to documents released by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Planktos, Inc.  will not use the Weatherbird II, a United States' flagged vessel, nor will the chosen ship leave from US shores as originally planned in order to avoid being subject to the United States Ocean Dumping Act.

This activity is of great concern to the environmental and international scientific community because the potential environmental impacts of the project are unknown. "The 'iron hypothesis' was first suggested by John Martin, an oceanographer at the Moss Landing Marine Laboratory in California, who died before his idea could be properly tested," said the British newspaper The Independent on May 3rd, 2007.

Unknown effects could come into play upon normal microbial processes and create possible toxic effects upon fish and other animals living in the open seas rather than exclusively near land. The phytoplankton/zooplankton groups at the dust release site could be damaged as well. Another fear is that the presence of iron dust could imbalance the natural oxygen's amount into the water, causing serious problems to some marine life.

CDF researchers fear that large events offshore potentially may deplete nitrates and phosphates, otherwise metabolized where those natural upwelling processes (and their dependant communities) occur, causing imbalance and impoverished systems in other places.
 
The release of an unprecedented amount of iron into an understudied open water ecosystem is an unnecessary threat, especially when the adjacent waters are home to Galapagos, a UNESCO World Heritage Site just listed In Danger.  We are also concerned about the absence of an independent scientific body to oversee and evaluate research for this untested global climate solution.

The unknown benefits – and unknown risks – simply don’t justify Planktos’ planned experiment.