Impacts of coastal and ocean rubbish on Gulf St Vincent
Marine debris is a Marine debris (or rubbish) is a growing global problem that impacts V1AUG12 key threat to ocean seas, coasts, marine wildlife and people. and coastal wildlife Seals, dolphins, sharks and penguins end up Management Board with funding support by the entangled with rope, fishing line, nets, packaging Australian Government’s Caring for Our Country For further info and bags. Some animals can even mistake plastic scheme. This collaborative project was between please go to our website: fragments and bags for food and swallow them Natural Resources Management Boards across causing health problems and death. the Gulf (Kangaroo Island, Northern and Yorke and www.amlrnrm.sa.gov.au the AMLR), the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Seabirds can pass these plastic fragments on Society and the South Australian Museum. when feeding their young, and there are a number of recorded marine turtle entanglements in The aim of this project was to determine sources South Australia. of marine debris and investigate the potential impacts on Gulf St Vincent. Marine debris impacts people by spoiling our enjoyment of beaches and posing a danger through With the valuable assistance of community volunteers glass, sharps and other hazardous waste. a number of goals were achieved including: Marine debris is a national issue. Injury and fatality 1. contribution to the prevention of harmful to marine life caused by this rubbish has been listed marine debris as a key threatening process under the Environment 2. monitoring the quantities, and understanding Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. the origins and impacts of marine debris 3. removing existing debris from the marine Protecting the Gulf environment The Marine Debris Threat Abatement Project of 4. helping to manage/reduce the impacts of debris Gulf St Vincent was initiated by the Adelaide and on ecosystems. Mount Lofty Ranges (AMLR) Natural Resources
Rope collected off beaches during surveys Morgans Beach marine debris sampling site Community efforts in tackling the problem Seventy-eight community volunteers helped complete marine debris surveys across Gulf St Vincent. Volunteers included students from secondary and primary schools, environment and community groups, and families and individual volunteers. Without their help we could not have achieved so much.
Volunteers were responsible for completing one of the largest surveys of marine debris in South Australia
Survey locations and amounts of debris collected Thirty-eight sites were surveyed for marine debris covering approximately 34 kilometres or 0.87 kilometres squared of the South Australian coastline. Sites included the open ocean beaches of the Fleurieu Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula and Kangaroo Island and many of the calm beaches of Gulf St Vincent. Surveys locations included remote beaches where people were not common visitors. This helped determine if oceanic debris was greater than debris coming from the land. The surveys were conducted between late winter/spring of 2010 (August – October) when the chance of debris accumulating on beaches was higher.
Figure 1: Marine debris survey study sites in Gulf St Vincent, Lower Yorke Peninsula, Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island
Enthusiastic volunteers; thank you! What a load of rubbish Fishing- and boating-related debris was more common at remote beaches with plastic food packaging and containers common on A total of 12,603 items weighing approximately 985 kilograms was metropolitan beaches. removed from our beaches during the surveys. This is the largest single survey of marine debris to be completed for the Gulf St Vincent region. Amazingly, two surface drift cards used by the South Australian Department of Fisheries to study South Australian ocean currents Plastic was the most common item found at all sites. In total 10,041 from 1980 were found. pieces (80%) weighing 505 kilograms (50%) was collected. Approximately half (53%) of the plastics collected were small broken pieces – less than 5 centimetres in size. Most were found on open, Plastic prey high-energy, southerly-facing beaches with larger waves. The project also examined 23 carcasses of short-tailed shearwaters Other common items included: or Mutton Birds (Ardenna tenuirostris) that had died and washed up on Goolwa and Waitpinga beaches. • plastic bottle caps (total of 1334) These deaths were part of a large-scale mortality of hundreds • marine rope pieces (total of 901) of these birds across southern Australia, probably due to them • plastic packaging and food wrappers (total of 1976) not finding enough food after their seasonal migration from the • glass (total of 1156 pieces). northern hemisphere. The interesting thing about food and drink packaging labels is that Disturbingly, 70% of the birds had plastic fragments in their gut, which barcodes can be traced back to the country of origin – for example can be passed on to their young by the regurgitation of food. The rubbish from Japan was found washed up on our beaches. amount of plastic the chicks receive can have tragic consequences.
Young volunteer assisted with carcass examinations
Sorting through the rubbish
Plastic fragments found in a bird’s stomach
Plastic fragments collected as part of the survey Number of items collected % A cleaner future Plastic Volunteers from across Gulf St Vincent made an enormous difference by getting out Glass and ceramic 80% and helping with the surveys. With your assistance and dedication we implemented Foam change by reducing the amount of debris on our beaches and identified major Metal Wood sources of pollution. Rubber The results of these surveys are now up on our interactive website. You can view Material and clothing information about the locations, types and amounts of debris you collected across Paper and cardboard 10% the five surveyed areas and at each of the 38 monitoring sites. 1% Other Composite 2% Simply log onto http://marinedebris.amlr.waterdata.com.au 2% 2% 3% If you want more detail, the report is available at http://www.amlrnrm.sa.gov.au. Just type “marine debris” in the search bar. Total weight of items collected % Plastic Where to next Glass and ceramic 51% Foam As part of the on-going commitment to reduce the pressure and impacts on Metal our marine ecosystems marine debris surveys are now planned for October/ Wood 1% November 2012. Rubber 2% 11% Material and clothing We have also begun a new program aimed at collecting used fishing line at fishing 2% 6% Paper and cardboard hotspots along the Onkaparinga estuary and local recreational boating areas along 8% 9% 9% Other the Adelaide metropolitan coast. Composite If you would like to be involved or learn more about the fishing line recycling program please use the contact details below. Major sources of litter 6,000 Total items 400 5,000 Total weight Reducing the amount of marine debris accumulating 4,000 300 in our marine and coastal ecosystems is an area where 3,000 200 2,000
Weight kg Weight you can make a difference today. 100 1,000 Number of items 0 0 Farming Sanitary Smoking Firearms Transport Packaging Containers Automotive Watersports Metal pieces Glass pieces Mixed metals Plastic pieces Paint products Marine research Building products Housing products Fishing & Boating
Contact We would like to sincerely thank the Traditional Owners, all our volunteers, DEWNR rangers and staff, landholders, all local and regional councils, and Kristian Peters sponsors who participated in the surveys, facilitated access to sites or enabled Adelaide & Mt Lofty Ranges Region us to utilise their facilities. Department of Environment, Water and Photograph credits: Natural Resources Thanks to the following for use of their photographs: Whale and Dolphin 205 Greenhill Road, Eastwood SA 5063 Conservation Society; Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Phone: 08 8273 9100 Management Board; Kangaroo Island Natural Resources Management Board; Fax: 08 8271 9585 and Bill Doyle. Email: [email protected]
This project is supported by funding from the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country initiative and the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board.