Anthropogenic debris on beaches in the SE Pacific (Chile): Results from a national survey supported by volunteers

Anthropogenic debris on beaches in the SE Pacific (Chile): Results from a national survey supported by volunteers

Anthropogenic marine debris (AMD) is an ubiquitous problem, which has motivated public participation in activities such as beach surveys and clean-up campaigns. While it is known that beaches in the SE Pacific are also affected by this problem, the quantities and types of AMD remain largely unknown....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin Vol. 58; no. 11; pp. 1718 - 1726
Main Authors: Bravo, Macarena, de los Ángeles Gallardo, Mª, Luna-Jorquera, Guillermo, Núñez, Paloma, Vásquez, Nelson, Thiel, Martin
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-11-2009
Subjects:
Anthropogenic marine debris
Bathing Beaches
Beach litter
Beach survey
Beaches
Chile
Cigarettes
Cleaning
Coastlines
Data Collection
Debris
Density
Environmental education
Environmental Monitoring
Environmental Pollutants - analysis
Environmental Pollution - statistics & numerical data
Environmental Restoration and Remediation
Geography
Marine
Pacific Ocean
Plastics
Pollution abatement
Volunteer participation
Volunteers
Chile
Pacific Ocean
I, Pacific
ISE, Chile
Beach survey
Anthropogenic marine debris
Beach litter
Plastics
Volunteer participation
Environmental education
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Summary:Anthropogenic marine debris (AMD) is an ubiquitous problem, which has motivated public participation in activities such as beach surveys and clean-up campaigns. While it is known that beaches in the SE Pacific are also affected by this problem, the quantities and types of AMD remain largely unknown. In the context of an outreach project, volunteers (∼1500 high-school students) participated in a nation-wide survey of AMD on 43 beaches distributed randomly along the entire Chilean coast (18°S to 53°S). The mean density of AMD was 1.8 items m−2 and the major types were plastics, cigarette butts and glass. Densities in central Chile were lower than in northern and southern Chile, which could be due to different attitudes of beach users or to intense beach cleaning in central regions. We suggest that public participation in surveys and cleaning activities will raise awareness and thereby contribute to an improvement of the situation.
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ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.06.017