First inventory of marine debris on Alegranza, an uninhabited island in the Northeast Atlantic

Alegranza is the most northerly island of the Canary Islands archipelago, the first obstacle crossed by the Canary Current. From July to October 2020, six expeditions were led to the island to make a first inventory of marine debris and its possible source and origin. In total, 3667 objects weighing...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine Pollution Bulletin
Main Authors: Herrera Ulibarri, Alicia, Rivera, J. Alexis, Moreno, Teresa, Martínez Sánchez, Ico, Gómez Cabrera, María Milagrosa
Other Authors: NO DATA, 57193161519, 57556995900, 35320330000, 55189627500, 7401734371, BU-BAS
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2022
Subjects:
2510 Oceanografía
330811 Control de la contaminación del agua
331210 Plásticos
Marine pollution
Plastic pollution
Marine litter
Marine traffic
Plastic
Canary Islands
Canada
Northeast Atlantic
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10553/114287
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113604
Description
Summary:Alegranza is the most northerly island of the Canary Islands archipelago, the first obstacle crossed by the Canary Current. From July to October 2020, six expeditions were led to the island to make a first inventory of marine debris and its possible source and origin. In total, 3667 objects weighing 321 kg were removed, excluding wooden objects. Of these, 97.7% were plastics, the most abundant being drink bottles (25.4%). While knowing the origin, source and pathway of debris is difficult, legible labels provided valuable information. In Alegranza, 66.7% of the legible bottle labels indicated Asian countries of manufacture, which is evidence that the source is maritime traffic in the region. The lobster trap license labels from the east coast of the United States and Canada were dated from 1999 to 2018, supporting both the exogenous origin and long lifetime in the ocean of these debris. 1,49 5,8 Q1 Q1 SCIE 11,0

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