When the weatherman says it will be a rainy, even thundery, you take an umbrella, not a wide-brimmed hat, for a short boat ride around the Toronto harbour and expect the worst.

Some of us brought both.

Turns out, the weatherman is wrong. It is sunny, there’s a gentle breeze and Lake Ontario is calm.

But the people on this boat are slightly miserable. The boat, the Sea Dragon, is Panagea Exploration’s research sailboat. On board are scientists, researchers and brothers Tyler and Alex Mifflin, all members of Pangaea’s Great Lakes Expedition; all glum because of what they have discovered in the water.

“This is pretty scary,” says Alex Mifflin, one of the hosts of The Water Brothers , a popular show on TVO that tackles water-related issues around the world. “We did not expect to find micro plastics so close to the harbour,” adds Tyler, his brother and co-host. “Micro plastic is the worst kind of plastic pollution in water, any water,” he says.

The plastic, says Tyler, breaks down into tiny bits that are often ingested by birds and the fish that we eventually eat. These micro plastics can also act as sponges for other pollutants in the water. It is difficult to clean them up because they are so small and lie just under the surface of the water.

As Tyler talks, a sea gull swoops close to the boat, trying to pluck a smaller-than-a-dime orange object floating on the lake’s surface. It grabs it, quickly flies away.

“Look at that,” says Alex. “We are eating our own garbage.”

Crew of a dozen

The Sea Dragon is a 22-metre long sailing boat that has travelled extensively and weathered many storms. In just the past two years, it has put in a staggering 80,000 kilometers across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans researching on marine environment.

On this day’s mission, its crew of more than a dozen people — some young environmentalists still at school or freshly out, others such established scientists as Sherri Mason, an associate professor of chemistry from SUNY College at Fredonia, N.Y. — are joined by the Mifflins on a sail around the Toronto harbour.

No one predicts what will be found; no one wants to find anything too awful. But if samples from Lakes Superior, Erie and Huron are any indication, it won’t be good, says Mason.

In 2012, Mason and a team trawled the waters of the three lakes and found an abundance of micro plastic. In some samples, there was more micro plastic in the lakes than in the oceans, she says.

In two of their 21 samples, there were 600,000 plastic pieces per square kilometer, says Mason. That is almost twice as much as the highest plastic count recorded in the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The results formed the first research paper of its kind on freshwater lakes, she says.

“Lake Erie’s water flows into (Lake) Ontario,” says Mason. “I am curious to see if there is as much (micro plastic) in here.”

Mason is an enthusiastic, hands-on scientist.

As she talks, she watches two researchers throw into the water a device known as a manta trawl. It’s a simple net system that skims the water surface and collects samples. It has metal wings, a mouth about a foot and a half wide and pulls a net made of thin mesh.

The manta trawl will be in the water for 30 minutes. A crew member is recording the GPS coordinates so researchers can later calculate how much plastic is in a given area.

The manta trawl slowly fills up.

When the manta trawl is hauled into the boat, Mason and Alex gingerly take out the net’s contents and place the debris into zip lock bags. A few feet away, Tyler is filming.

There is wood debris, pieces of plastic and some leaves. Mason, armed with a pair of tweezers, points to teeny pieces that are clinging to the wood and the leaves. Micro plastic, she says.

The bag is photographed, then stored for further analysis in the laboratory.

Micro plastic is a relatively new concern. For years, the focus has been on larger plastic objects and their impact on the environment, including the oceans. Now scientists are investigating the alarming growth of much smaller particles.

The tiny bits of plastic — so tiny they are hard to spot — come from various sources: directly from cosmetics, exfoliants, industrial abrasives; and indirectly, from the breakdown of larger plastic, especially marine debris, into small fragments.

As well, synthetic fibres from clothes — after being washed — are also considered micro plastic.

One of the biggest problems with micro plastic, says Alex, is that fish and birds easily mistake the stuff for food.

It is not yet known if micro plastic is absorbed into the fatty tissues of marine life once ingested. But it has been established that many fish consume micro plastic. Those bits take up space in the stomach and can create fatal blockages.

Scientists also don’t know whether humans are at risk consuming these animals or ingesting micro plastics directly.

There is still a lot to be understood about the “chain of chemicals that are ending up in our lakes and ocean,” says Alex. “Any way you look at it, micro plastics aren’t good.”

The crew throws the manta trawl a second time into the water — again for 30 minutes — closer to the harbour. The result is the same: more wood debris, some small pieces of plastic, and, of course, those micro plastics bits.

Teeny particles, giant problem

How do you solve this tiny, yet potentially gargantuan problem of micro plastics?

Changing the way we live and broad societal education are the only ways to go, says Bill Edwards from Niagara University.

A specialist in lake ecology, he is teaching a course on the Sea Dragon. The idea, he says, is to let students see what pollution can do to the lake.

Their first reaction is always amazement, followed by disgust, says Edwards.

Paul Helm, a research scientist with the ministry of environment, is also on the sailboat. There are always new concerns with the lakes, he says, recalling that in the 1970s, chemicals from detergents were responsible for destructive algae blooms.

There have been many “issues” since then. Now, micro plastics are moving up the list.

“We are always monitoring for contaminants,” he says. “But the biggest issue is to ensure people are aware of what pollution does to our lakes.”

The scientists say industries must be compelled to stop using the bad stuff that ends up in the lake as micro plastics.

That’s easier said than done. Up to 80 per cent of the hundreds of tonnes of garbage that has made its way into oceans comes from land; 20 per cent is the consequence of fishing and shipping industries.

“We can’t deal with marine pollution . . . the only way is to prevent it is from happening,” says Alex Mifflin.

The video shot today will be uploaded to The Water Brothers , the show’s website, once the next season starts.

“We have done much around the world, we also want to focus on our own Great Lakes,” says Alex.

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Lake as backyard

The brothers grew up in the Beaches in Toronto. Lake Ontario was their backyard.

Tyler, 28, is a graduate of University of British Columbia’s film program, which makes him the show’s production wiz.

Alex, 26, studied environmental sciences at Dalhousie University before he joined his brother at S.K. Films.

“It’s one earth and we are connected through water — that is the message of the show,” says Alex.

The show’s first season, which aired last year, took the brothers all over. One episode was about Aortic thaw. Another was about the power of the Mekong River and the impact of planned mega dams there.

The brothers have also been to Neskantoga, aremote Oji-Cree reserve in northwestern Ontario that has had a “boil water” advisory for 20 years.

The brothers form what is most times just a two-man production crew. The duo finalizes the ideas, works on the script, does the camera work, the editing . . . the whole deal. When there is need, they hire a cameraman to work with them, as was recently required in India and in Bangladesh.

The Mifflins like doing it all themselves.

Water is a complicated ubject everywhere in the world, says Tyler.

“Our hope is that the show helps people understand those issues and change mindsets,” he says. “We don’t need to fight over water . . . it is all about restructuring the way we live and we treat water.”

They call each other Al and Ty, sometimes completing the other’s sentences.

The upcoming broadcast includes such topics as the great masses of plastic debris in the middle of the Pacific and the Kumbh Mela in India, in which millions of Hindu pilgrims take a dip in the Ganges River.

They are already working on episodes for season three. Among other things, the brothers have been wondering how NASA scientists manage water in space.

The second season of The Water Brothers launches on TVO on Sept. 10 .