Rapid increase in Asian bottles in the South Atlantic Ocean indicates major debris inputs from ships

Ryan, Peter G.; Dilley, Ben J.; Ronconi, Robert A.; Connan, Maëlle

doi:10.1073/pnas.1909816116

Cited by 131 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…This higher connectivity with the continent contrasts with the low proportion of recognizable continental litter items stranding on Easter Island 26,30 , which suggests that continental plastic litter either does not reach the EIE or does so in an already degraded state. Similar results were recently reported for the oceanic Inaccessible Island in the South Atlantic, where most recognizable litter also seems to have oceanic sources originating from shipping and fisheries 60 .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

In search for the sources of plastic marine litter that contaminates the Easter Island Ecoregion

Gennip

Dewitte

Garçon

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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Subtropical gyres are the oceanic regions where plastic litter accumulates over long timescales, exposing surrounding oceanic islands to plastic contamination, with potentially severe consequences on marine life. Islands’ exposure to such contaminants, littered over long distances in marine or terrestrial habitats, is due to the ocean currents that can transport plastic over long ranges. Here, this issue is addressed for the Easter Island ecoregion (EIE). High-resolution ocean circulation models are used with a Lagrangian particle-tracking tool to identify the connectivity patterns of the EIE with industrial fishing areas and coastline regions of the Pacific basin. Connectivity patterns for “virtual” particles either floating (such as buoyant macroplastics) or neutrally-buoyant (smaller microplastics) are investigated. We find that the South American shoreline between 20°S and 40°S, and the fishing zone within international waters off Peru (20°S, 80°W) are associated with the highest probability for debris to reach the EIE, with transit times under 2 years. These regions coincide with the most-densely populated coastal region of Chile and the most-intensely fished region in the South Pacific. The findings offer potential for mitigating plastic contamination reaching the EIE through better upstream waste management. Results also highlight the need for international action plans on this important issue.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

In search for the sources of plastic marine litter that contaminates the Easter Island Ecoregion

Gennip

Dewitte

Garçon

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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“…Perhaps unsurprisingly, given its size and population density, 47% of plastic bottles found on Aldabra with intact labels were from China. This is similar to findings from islands in the Southern Atlantic Ocean 42 , and on Alphonse Island in Seychelles, where more than 75% of labelled items originated in Southeast Asia (mainly Indonesia and Thailand) and 13% originated in East Asia (mainly China) 29 . In both cases, the original studies suggested that the intact labels might indicate the source of the bottles was dumping from ships.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

The costs of removing the unsanctioned import of marine plastic litter to small island states

Burt

Raguain²,

Sanchez³

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Small island states receive unprecedented amounts of the world’s plastic waste. In March 2019, we removed as much plastic litter as possible from Aldabra Atoll, a remote UNESCO World Heritage Site, and estimated the money and effort required to remove the remaining debris. We removed 25 tonnes at a cost of $224,537, which equates to around $10,000 per day of clean-up operations or $8,900 per tonne of litter. We estimate that 513 tonnes (95% CI 212–814) remains on Aldabra, the largest accumulation reported for any single island. We calculate that removing it will cost approximately $4.68 million and require 18,000 person-hours of labour. By weight, the composition is dominated by litter from the regional fishing industry (83%) and flip-flops from further afield (7%). Given the serious detrimental effects of plastic litter on marine ecosystems, we conclude that clean-up efforts are a vital management action for islands like Aldabra, despite the high financial cost and should be integrated alongside policies directed at ‘turning off the tap’. We recommend that international funding be made available for such efforts, especially considering the transboundary nature of both the marine plastic litter problem and the ecosystem services provided by biodiversity-rich islands.

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“…If the global model estimate is correct, we'd expect to see an annual stranding rate of 30-90 kg•m −1 , 20-60 times more than the total standing stock of plastic on the study beach. However, almost half of the mass of litter at the study beach comes from fishing and other marine activities, and some of the general rubbish is also dumped illegally from ships (Ryan et al, 2019). Even at heavily polluted urban beaches in Cape Town, extrapolated daily litter accumulation rates are only 0.4-16 kg•m −1…”

Section: Litter Typementioning

confidence: 98%

Toward Balancing the Budget: Surface Macro-Plastics Dominate the Mass of Particulate Pollution Stranded on Beaches

et al. 2020

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Most studies report the abundance of plastic items in the environment, but mass is an equally important currency for monitoring plastic pollution, particularly given attempts to balance the global plastic budget. We determined the size/mass composition of litter stranded on a remote, infrequently-cleaned sandy beach on the west coast of South Africa. Traditional surveys of superficial macro-litter were augmented by sieved transects for buried macro-litter (8-mm mesh), meso-litter (2-mm mesh) and sediment cores for micro-litter. Aggregating the data across all sampling scales, the total density was ∼1.9 × 10 5 anthropogenic particulate pollutants per linear meter of beach, 99.7% of which were microfibers (most of which are likely not 'plastic'). Plastics comprised 99.6% of beach macro-and meso-litter by number and 89% by mass. Small items dominated samples numerically, but were trivial relative to larger items in terms of their mass. Buried litter accounted for 86% of macro-plastic items, but only 5% of the mass of macro-plastics, because smaller items are buried more easily than large items. The total density of plastic (∼1.2 kg•m −1), at least half of which was from fisheries and shipping, is much lower than predicted by global models of plastic leakage from land-based sources. Ongoing degradation of plastic items already in the environment, particularly on beaches, is likely to result in a marked increase in plastic fragments, even if we stop leaking additional plastic. The collection of large items from beaches is a useful stopgap measure to limit the formation of micro-plastics while we formulate effective steps to prevent plastic leakage into the environment.

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Rapid increase in Asian bottles in the South Atlantic Ocean indicates major debris inputs from ships

Cited by 131 publications

References 33 publications

In search for the sources of plastic marine litter that contaminates the Easter Island Ecoregion

In search for the sources of plastic marine litter that contaminates the Easter Island Ecoregion

The costs of removing the unsanctioned import of marine plastic litter to small island states

Toward Balancing the Budget: Surface Macro-Plastics Dominate the Mass of Particulate Pollution Stranded on Beaches

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