Thirty years of marine debris in the Southern Ocean: Annual surveys of two island shores in the Scotia Sea
We report on three decades of repeat surveys of beached marine debris at two locations in the Scotia Sea, in the Southwest Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. Between October 1989 and March 2019 10,112 items of beached debris were recovered from Main Bay, Bird Island, South Georgia in the norther...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:22d80c89c1ed4defb7a3b596d666a67f 2023-05-15T13:42:24+02:00 Thirty years of marine debris in the Southern Ocean: Annual surveys of two island shores in the Scotia Sea Claire M. Waluda Iain J. Staniland Michael J. Dunn Sally E. Thorpe Emily Grilly Mari Whitelaw Kevin A. Hughes 2020-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.105460 https://doaj.org/article/22d80c89c1ed4defb7a3b596d666a67f EN eng Elsevier http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019336293 https://doaj.org/toc/0160-4120 0160-4120 doi:10.1016/j.envint.2020.105460 https://doaj.org/article/22d80c89c1ed4defb7a3b596d666a67f Environment International, Vol 136, Iss , Pp - (2020) Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.105460 2022-12-31T08:43:11Z We report on three decades of repeat surveys of beached marine debris at two locations in the Scotia Sea, in the Southwest Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. Between October 1989 and March 2019 10,112 items of beached debris were recovered from Main Bay, Bird Island, South Georgia in the northern Scotia Sea. The total mass of items (data from 1996 onwards) was 101 kg. Plastic was the most commonly recovered item (97.5% by number; 89% by mass) with the remainder made up of fabric, glass, metal, paper and rubber. Mean mass per item was 0.01 kg and the rate of accumulation was 100 items km−1 month−1. Analyses showed an increase in the number of debris items recovered (5.7 per year) but a decline in mean mass per item, suggesting a trend towards more, smaller items of debris at Bird Island. At Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, located in the southern Scotia Sea and within the Antarctic Treaty area, debris items were collected from three beaches, during the austral summer only, between 1991 and 2019. In total 1304 items with a mass of 268 kg were recovered. Plastic items contributed 84% by number and 80% by mass, with the remainder made up of metal (6% by number; 14% by mass), rubber (4% by number; 3% by mass), fabric, glass and paper (<1% by number; 3% by mass). Mean mass per item was 0.2 kg and rate of accumulation was 3 items km−1 month−1. Accumulation rates were an order of magnitude higher on the western (windward) side of the island (13–17 items km−1 month−1) than the eastern side (1.5 items km−1 month−1). Analyses showed a slight decline in number and slight increase in mean mass of debris items over time at Signy Island. This study highlights the prevalence of anthropogenic marine debris (particularly plastic) in the Southern Ocean. It shows the importance of long-term monitoring efforts in attempting to catalogue marine debris and identify trends, and serves warning of the urgent need for a wider understanding of the extent of marine debris across the whole of the Southern Ocean. Keywords: Marine ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Bird Island Scotia Sea Signy Island South Orkney Islands Southern Ocean Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Austral Scotia Sea South Orkney Islands ENVELOPE(-45.500,-45.500,-60.583,-60.583) Bird Island ENVELOPE(-38.060,-38.060,-54.004,-54.004) Signy Island ENVELOPE(-45.595,-45.595,-60.708,-60.708) Main Bay ENVELOPE(-38.050,-38.050,-54.017,-54.017) Environment International 136 105460 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Claire M. Waluda Iain J. Staniland Michael J. Dunn Sally E. Thorpe Emily Grilly Mari Whitelaw Kevin A. Hughes Thirty years of marine debris in the Southern Ocean: Annual surveys of two island shores in the Scotia Sea |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
We report on three decades of repeat surveys of beached marine debris at two locations in the Scotia Sea, in the Southwest Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. Between October 1989 and March 2019 10,112 items of beached debris were recovered from Main Bay, Bird Island, South Georgia in the northern Scotia Sea. The total mass of items (data from 1996 onwards) was 101 kg. Plastic was the most commonly recovered item (97.5% by number; 89% by mass) with the remainder made up of fabric, glass, metal, paper and rubber. Mean mass per item was 0.01 kg and the rate of accumulation was 100 items km−1 month−1. Analyses showed an increase in the number of debris items recovered (5.7 per year) but a decline in mean mass per item, suggesting a trend towards more, smaller items of debris at Bird Island. At Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, located in the southern Scotia Sea and within the Antarctic Treaty area, debris items were collected from three beaches, during the austral summer only, between 1991 and 2019. In total 1304 items with a mass of 268 kg were recovered. Plastic items contributed 84% by number and 80% by mass, with the remainder made up of metal (6% by number; 14% by mass), rubber (4% by number; 3% by mass), fabric, glass and paper (<1% by number; 3% by mass). Mean mass per item was 0.2 kg and rate of accumulation was 3 items km−1 month−1. Accumulation rates were an order of magnitude higher on the western (windward) side of the island (13–17 items km−1 month−1) than the eastern side (1.5 items km−1 month−1). Analyses showed a slight decline in number and slight increase in mean mass of debris items over time at Signy Island. This study highlights the prevalence of anthropogenic marine debris (particularly plastic) in the Southern Ocean. It shows the importance of long-term monitoring efforts in attempting to catalogue marine debris and identify trends, and serves warning of the urgent need for a wider understanding of the extent of marine debris across the whole of the Southern Ocean. Keywords: Marine ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Claire M. Waluda Iain J. Staniland Michael J. Dunn Sally E. Thorpe Emily Grilly Mari Whitelaw Kevin A. Hughes |
author_facet |
Claire M. Waluda Iain J. Staniland Michael J. Dunn Sally E. Thorpe Emily Grilly Mari Whitelaw Kevin A. Hughes |
author_sort |
Claire M. Waluda |
title |
Thirty years of marine debris in the Southern Ocean: Annual surveys of two island shores in the Scotia Sea |
title_short |
Thirty years of marine debris in the Southern Ocean: Annual surveys of two island shores in the Scotia Sea |
title_full |
Thirty years of marine debris in the Southern Ocean: Annual surveys of two island shores in the Scotia Sea |
title_fullStr |
Thirty years of marine debris in the Southern Ocean: Annual surveys of two island shores in the Scotia Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Thirty years of marine debris in the Southern Ocean: Annual surveys of two island shores in the Scotia Sea |
title_sort |
thirty years of marine debris in the southern ocean: annual surveys of two island shores in the scotia sea |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.105460 https://doaj.org/article/22d80c89c1ed4defb7a3b596d666a67f |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-45.500,-45.500,-60.583,-60.583) ENVELOPE(-38.060,-38.060,-54.004,-54.004) ENVELOPE(-45.595,-45.595,-60.708,-60.708) ENVELOPE(-38.050,-38.050,-54.017,-54.017) |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Austral Scotia Sea South Orkney Islands Bird Island Signy Island Main Bay |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Austral Scotia Sea South Orkney Islands Bird Island Signy Island Main Bay |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Bird Island Scotia Sea Signy Island South Orkney Islands Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Bird Island Scotia Sea Signy Island South Orkney Islands Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Environment International, Vol 136, Iss , Pp - (2020) |
op_relation |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019336293 https://doaj.org/toc/0160-4120 0160-4120 doi:10.1016/j.envint.2020.105460 https://doaj.org/article/22d80c89c1ed4defb7a3b596d666a67f |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.105460 |
container_title |
Environment International |
container_volume |
136 |
container_start_page |
105460 |
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1766167521422999552 |