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"Pro tanto quid retribuamus" … "What shall we give back in return for so much?"

We will survive climate disruption — but not the loss of nature.

Plankton are the planet’s life-support system. Pollution is killing them. The GOES Foundation gathers the citizen-science evidence and delivers open-source solutions to eliminate pollution and regenerate the oceans.

Support our mission Read the GOES report
80%
of biodiversity lost since 1970
~1%
of plankton dying every year
3bn
people who depend on the ocean for food
5,000
plankton samples collected across the Atlantic
Live citizen-science data

Explore the Atlantic sampling map

352 stations · 8 yachts · every particle counted and sized from the microscope images. Pick a class to colour the map, then click any station for its full readings.

Interactive — live data Open full results page →
See the full sampling results

New: GOES now has a shorebase in Bocas del Toro, Panama — seahorsepoint.org. Subscribe to our newsletter →

The problem

The oceans are the planet’s lungs — and they are suffocating

Since the chemical revolution of the 1950s, a cocktail of toxic “forever chemicals”, microplastics and partially combusted carbon has been poisoning the sea. These particles concentrate toxins, the plankton eat them, and they die.

With no plankton there are no whales, seals, birds or fish — and no surface micro-layer to regulate humidity, wind and cloud formation. The oceans, not carbon dioxide alone, control the climate.

Around 30% of the world’s oceans — and 80% of the Southern Ocean — are now high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll (HNLC) zones. They are not technically dead zones, but the outcome is effectively the same.

Read our vision
30%
of the world’s oceans are now HNLC zones — effectively dead
80%
of the Southern Ocean is now high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll
40M t
Sargassum in the Atlantic (should be 1M)
8.03
Ocean pH today (8.2 in the 1940s)
The lowest ocean pH on record — lowest recorded surface / upwelled pH by ocean region with aragonite saturation. Every region sits below pH 8.04; nine of eleven are below the 7.95 critical threshold.
Citizen-science results

What 5,000 samples across the Atlantic revealed

20 yachts sampled the surface ocean every 12 hours at ~15°N. Filtered to 20 microns, the results were catastrophic — and unlike anything in the scientific record.

<1
Almost no life. We expected 1–5 zooplankton per 100 ml. We found fewer than one animal in every 80 litres of water.
1000+
Carbon particles. We expected ~20 particles of organic matter. We found over 1,000 particles of partially combusted carbon per litre — which adsorb toxic chemicals just like plastic.
100×
Microfibres. We expected 1–2 microfibres per litre. We found up to 100 — and likely ten times more microplastic particles we couldn’t yet measure.
See the full sampling results
What we do

Evidence, solutions, and a global movement

Citizen-science sampling

Sailors worldwide collect plankton samples with simple kits and microscopes — building irrefutable evidence for policymakers.

Open-source solutions

The EDEN CYCLE wastewater system and CAFE filter stop pollution at source — fully open-source, because this is about survival, not profit.

Action & advocacy

From individuals ditching toxic products to world leaders, GOES drives the universal action needed to regenerate nature.
Evidence in the water

What the samples show

Microscope images from the Atlantic crossing — carbon particles, microfibres, and near-empty water.

Sampling route — 20 yachts across the Atlantic, 2021
Sampling route — 20 yachts across the Atlantic, 2021
50 nm off the Canary Islands — microplastic fibres
50 nm off the Canary Islands — microplastic fibres
Mid-Atlantic, ~1,000 nm from land — carbon particles, almost no life
Mid-Atlantic, ~1,000 nm from land — carbon particles, almost no life
Entering the Caribbean, 100 nm off Grenada
Entering the Caribbean, 100 nm off Grenada
Ocean pH — falling below the 8.04 threshold
Ocean pH — falling below the 8.04 threshold
Marine biodiversity — the collapse curve
Marine biodiversity — the collapse curve
Read the full report
The good news

The ocean can recover — fast

Most marine life is under 1 mm and doubles in just three days. Remove the toxic brakes and the oceanic ecosystem can bounce back quickly — exactly as biodiversity rebounded during the COVID pause.

We may never cut carbon dioxide fast enough — but we can eliminate pollution, restore ocean pH, and regenerate ecosystems on land and at sea. That is the fight worth winning.

A starfish story

“There are too many starfish to make a difference,” the old man said. The child threw one back into the sea and replied: “It made a difference to that one.”

If we all do something — drop oxybenzone, cut plastic, go non-toxic — it adds up.

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