Surface Active Organics in the Caribbean Sea

The adhesion enhancing activity of macromolecular material extracted from sea water samples taken in the Northeastern Caribbean Sea has been examined. The extracted materials were tested for their surface active properties by determining their effect on the adhesion of marine phytoplankton cells to glass. The test materials were extracted from sea water samples taken along the southwest coast of Puerto Rico, at three offshore stations; (I) northwest of the Jungfern Passage in the Virgin Island Basin; (II) (Serial Station) 20 miles directly south of the southwest coast of Puerto Rico; and (III) in the Mona Passage, west of Puerto Rico. Sampling at the offshore stations was designed to examine three discrete water masses: Caribbean Surface Water (CSW), the Subtropical Underwater (SUW) and the Subantarctic Intermediate Water (SAIW). The materials extracted from the CSW and the SUW enhanced the adhesion of the test cells to glass. The mixed layer of the SAIW did not contain adhesion active material. Adhesion enhancement activity was found in the materials obtained from samples taken at stations (I) and (II), but was not found at station (III). If this material comes from the source area of the SUW in the Northwestern Atlantic, then these data suggest that there may be a restriction in the Mona Passage to the movement of this activity.