New ‘Changing Seas’ episode dives into Madeira’s fight against plastic pollution
Last October, the MARE-Madeira team welcomed the Changing Seas crew to film an episode about the growing threat of plastic pollution in the waters surrounding the Madeiran archipelago. Changing Seas, produced by South Florida PBS, takes viewers on oceanic journeys with marine researchers to explore pressing environmental issues and the possible solutions science can offer.
On June 26, 2025*, the long-awaited episode is being released! The upcoming episode features the work of our researchers at MARE-Madeira, in collaboration with the Direção Regional do Ambiente e Mar, as they investigate the sources and impacts of plastic on marine life. From the surface to the mesopelagic depths, the episode showcases how discarded plastics are altering ecosystems and endangering oceanic biodiversity. The program includes insights from several EU- and Interreg-funded projects: MIMA, which studies how plastics behave in deep-sea environments and affect predator-prey interactions; CleanAtlantic, which improves marine litter monitoring and removal systems across the Atlantic region; and FreeLitterAT, which promotes litter-free coastal communities through prevention, cleanup, and stakeholder engagement.
MARE-Madeira researchers Filipe Alves, Ana Dinis, Annalisa Sambolino, Laura Redaelli, Marc Fernandez Morrón, Sílvia Almeida, Rita Ferreira and João Canning-Clode appear in the film, alongside our collaborator Pedro Sepúlveda. Based on research that ranges from acoustic analysis of deep-sea plastics to predictive modeling of marine litter hotspots, the researchers share how the growing pressures plastic pollution places on ocean ecosystems, also showing how science can inform better policies and more effective public engagement.
This collaboration with Changing Seas was made possible thanks to the support of the Ma’at Environment Fund, a private donor to MARE-Madeira’s communication team and Youth Ambassadors program. As long-standing advisors, their early introduction to the Changing Seas production team played a key role in connecting Madeira’s story to an international audience. The episode will be available globally, with Portuguese subtitles, on YouTube and the Changing Seas website.
*The episode will be released in the US at 8pm EDT on June 25/ 1am WET on June 26. To watch it click HERE
Text by Patrícia Nunes