Project title: Density of plastic debris on inhabited and uninhabited Caribbean Islands

Project leader: Dr Jennifer Lavers, Institute for Marine & Antarctic Studies, Australia

Background: Plastic pollution of the world’s oceans is a rapidly increasing issue, with an estimated 5 trillion items currently floating in the surface layer (top 10 cm) and an estimated 275 million tonnes of new plastic accidentally or intentionally entering the ocean every year. Data on the distribution and abundance of this debris assists research scientists and politicians develop management strategies to deal with this enormous, international issue. Beach clean-up data, largely coordinated by volunteer groups, provide valuable information on the types and amounts of debris present, in relation to factors such as distance to cities. In 2014, data on the density of beach debris were collected on inhabited and uninhabited islands in the Grenadines with the support of Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC). In 2015, additional data were collected on islands further north, from Sint Maarten to the central Bahamas. Together, these data will form the basis of a Masters student research thesis, supported by the University of Dundee in Scotland undertaken during April-August 2016.

DEADLINE: All beach debris data must be emailed to Jennifer.Lavers@utas.edu.au by 30 April 2016.

INSTRUCTIONS: Survey area: using a transect tape (or measuring tape), run a 20 m long transect parallel to the water line, at approximately the same height as the high tide line. When searching for debris items, you will search within one meter either side of this tape only (see photo below as an example). Items outside this area are not to be counted.

Beach nameBeach location (provide details)

Beach GPS coordinatesBeach substrate (sand, pebbles, or rock)What direction does the beach face?Is the island inhabited by humans?Is this beach (where the survey is conducted) regularly visited by locals or tourists? If so, is there any evidence of clean-ups occurring? For example, has plastic been "stock piled" in places or has it been used to mark locations, like walking paths? Any other insights are much appreciated (eg. difficult to access, bottom of steep cliff, privately owned, etc)Name of the person collecting the data & any affiliation (eg. not-for-profit agency they would like acknowledged)Date of data collection

Number of human-related items observed within the 20 x 2m beach transect:

The person(s) collecting data should use the categories in the table below. The type of items found on beaches is endless, so a category may not always exist for unusual/rare things. If you encounter something that does not fit in one of the categories below, please record the item in one of the black spaces under Miscellaneous.

Item Number Note (eg. bleach bottle, label from Peru)Plastic

Drink bottleContainer (eg. shampoo, vinegar)Cap/lidOil containerCutlery (eg. spoon)StrawCigarette lighterWater drink bagDisposable cupPlastic bagFood wrapper

MetalCap/lid (eg. beer)Aluminum cansAerosol canFuel cannister

Fishing relatedRope fragment

Fishing lineFishing floatNet fragment

FoamPolystrene (eg. food container, cooler)Expandable (hard, usually orange)Other foam (eg. non-slip matt from boat)

WoodWine corkShipping palletTimber board

MiscellaneousCigarette buttCosmetic products (eg. band aids, condom, makeup, cotton buds, etc)ShoesBalloon rubber & ribbonToysLight bulbGlow stick

GlassGlass bottleGlass fragment

Fragments of unidentifiable plastic items (see notes below)Macro (> 5 mm)Micro (< 5 mm)

Industrial pellets (nurdles)Nurdles (< 5 mm)

An important, but often tricky group of items to count/estimate, are fragments of unidentifiable plastic items which for this project, are labelled:Macro (anything 5 mm in size or bigger)Micro (anything smaller than 5 mm)

Some beaches can have 1000s of micro-plastics within a 20 x 2m transect (for example, polystrene foam such as a bait-box or Styrofoam food container can break-up into tiny little

white balls). I don't expect volunteers to count all of these. If they encounter a beach like this, they should randomly select a 20 x 20 cm square within the larger transect and count everything inside the square only. Make sure to record this carefully in the notes. This procedure can also be used if the person encounters a large number of industrial pellets (often called 'nurdles' – see below), tiny 2-5 mm round or cylinder-shaped pieces of plastic. Usually clear (new plastic), but can also be black (recycled plastic).

Polystrene (Styrofoam) balls Nurdles (clear, black, and rare coloured ones)

Other micro-plastic items (unidentifiable fragments)