Bethany gay

FALMOUTH MARINE SCHOOL: FDSC MARINE SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

Plastic Beach: The Napoli Legacy accumulation of plastic particle pollution on our shores Research Paper: Plastic pollution on the shores surrounding Lyme Bay, UK Bethany D Gay 3/15/2011

A research paper conducting a review into the plastic pollution on the shores surrounding the Lyme Bay, UK in the aftermath of the grounding of the MSC Napoli in 2007.

Bethany D Gay Plastic Beach: The Napoli Legacy - accumulation of plastic particle pollution on our shores

Plastic Beach: The Napoli Legacy - accumulation of plastic particle pollution on our shores Bethany D Gay*1 FdSc Marine Science, Falmouth Marine School, Killligrew St, Falmouth, TR11 3QS ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Plastic, Pollution, Distribution, Abundance, Lyme Bay, MSC Napoli,

Abstract: The beaching of the MSC Napoli in 2007 was a colossal event in UK history, not only for the supervision of global shipping but also for environmental management. It shed a large percentage of its cargo in the bay, especially that of plastic. Plastic is phenomenally hard to degrade in the natural environment and thus chosen in this investigation into the true extent of pollution of the UK shoreline.

The peripheral shoreline of Lyme bay was divided into sections of 20km & 40km radius zone from where the MSC Napoli was beached. Sediment was thus sampled for traces of plastic particulate matter as a way to establish the amount of introduce plastic debris from the stranding. Through a modus operandi of random sampling it was found that not only that all the beaches have some degree of plastic debris within the sediment but also the anthropogenic input reflects largely on the quantity & distribution of plastic waste on and in the Bay’s coastline.

1. Introduction Polythylene, polystyrene, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, or as society commonly refer to them as, Plastic. Since the end of World War II there has been a dramatic increase in plastic manufacture and we now utilize over 260 million tonnes of plastic globally every year from the domestic water bottle to industrial moulds (Thompson, 2009). It is vital in modern societies needs, it is used in pharmaceuticals, industry and domestic living & without it we would be unable to have the plethora of appliances & medical advantages we have today. Also its complex hydrocarbon molecular matrix gives it many desirable characteristics including; being photostable, a thermal / electrical insulator, resistant to some chemical degradation, high tensile strength & 1

Correspondence to Bethany D. Gay, Marine Science Department, Falmouth Marine School, Falmouth, UK, TR11 3QS. Email: Bethany.gay095@live.cornwall.ac.uk

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Bethany D Gay Plastic Beach: The Napoli Legacy - accumulation of plastic particle pollution on our shores

exhibits hydrophobic properties (American Chemistry Council, 2005). But there is indeed a repercussion to this seemly innocent wonder material. A study conducted by the United Nations Environmental Programme in 2009, estimates that, globally, there now 46,000 pieces of plastic per square mile of shoreline(United Nations Environment Programme , 2009). As well as being aesthetically displeasing, plastic has been linked to global movement of non-indigenous species (Winston, 1982), pathogenic material(Sheavly, 2004), Persistent organic pollutants POPs (Rios, 2007), or even heavy metals transported on its dermal surface (Mato, 2001). As well as being responsible for marine biota entanglement(United Nations Environment Programme, 2005), vehicular damage (Hagen, 2009) & smothering (Gregory, 2008). The more immediate concern for mankind is that plastic has the ability to be transferred through the food web dynamics by ingestion. The occurrence of heterotrophic ingestion of plastics has been noted globally, a Dutch study conducted by Franeker in 1985 who found a large percentage of dead Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) had plastics in their stomach, 1997, Blight found 8/11 aves species caught as bycatch in the NE Pacific Ocean had plastic in their digestive system while Eriksson, in 2003, found plastic particles in fur seal scat in Tasmania, & thus the potential of human consumption of plastic is a real threat. All forms of plastic pollution are indeed a threat to the ecological & biological global systems but in recent surveys have identified that due to plastics buoyant & durable nature that debris can be transported around the world before becoming stranded almost anywhere on a shore or even deposited unnoticed on the seabed(Benton, 1995) (Ivar do Sul, 2009)(Santos, 2009).

In January 2007, the cargo container ship the MSC Napoli was forcibly beached in Lyme Bay, South west England, just 1 mile from the UNESCO protected World Heritage Site of the Jurassic Coast(Maritime and Coastguard Agency, 2008). During this period it shed 103 out of 2,394 into the surrounding environment with many containers carrying plastic components – predominately for the motor industry trade(Gaston, 2007). Due to its prominent location, as Lyme bay is home to Europe’s rarest coral, Eunicella verrucosa (Pink sea fan), and proximity to the heritage site. Intense publicity surrounded this incident consequently resulting in sensationalised headlines & international pressure sparked a major environmental ‘clear-up’ operation. This investigation is to identify the presence of plastic particles within shoreline sediment & ultimately to assess whether the beaching of the MSC Napoli had an impact on the plastic pollution levels in Lyme Bay, UK.

2. Material & method 2.1.

Sample Sites Sampling occurred at five beaches within the 20km & 40km radius markers of the MSC Napoli, 2007 beaching location in Lyme Bay (Devon–Dorset, SW England). Each location was chosen on its size, coastal topography, anthropogenic input, swell orientation & distance in relation to the Napoli & thus the beaches of Charmouth, Branscombe, Sidmouth, Budleigh Salterton and Dawlish warren were selected. Charmouth is located at the eastern 40km limit, it predominately a tourism & fossil orientated, with the River Char terminating at the beach. While Branscombe is a remote beach with the largest landowner being that of the National Trust, its remote location limits the amount of anthropogenic input but was drawn to the headlines as it became the epicentre of the 2007 Napoli beaching. Westward is the beach of sidmouth town, which is only accessible from the strictly pedestrian stone promenade. This largely tourism focused town & proximity to the Napoli beaching location is ideal to compare with Branscombe as this beach is largely council owned. Budleigh Salterton beach has protection from the marsh complex behind separating the town from the beach.

Finally Dawlish warren is a well known sand dune nature reserve complex & newly developed ‘tourism resort’ located just at the western edge of the 40km radius marker. It was also highlighted in the Natural England’s MSC Napoli Incident report as an ‘area of sensitivity and/or importance of concern’ after the beaching (Natural England , 2007).

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Bethany D Gay Plastic Beach: The Napoli Legacy - accumulation of plastic particle pollution on our shores

2.2.

Sampling

For each location the beaches were assessed to ensure that there would be no interference from other factors. As in accordance to the UNEP/ IOC guidelines the sampling site was that of a shallow sloping gradient, long length (large ‘catchment’ area), away from anthropological infrastructure, such as that of jetties and breakwaters. The strandline was located in which a 20m transect was laid starting 4m above the extreme high spring tide line perpendicular to the water’s edge. Every metre individual a 997cm² quadrat was laid along the transect line in which only the surface 3cm was removed & sieved through an aluminium sediment tower with a graded 0.5mm mesh. Any organic matter was discarded & in-organic material was sorted into plastic pieces <5cm & other in-organic material. The non-plastic material was held in a container ready to be deposited of environmentally safe fashion, while the plastic pellets where placed into clearly labelled containers awaiting laboratory analysis. Once field sampling had been completed the pellets were transferred into an ultra-sonic cleaner ready to remove any encrusted biotic material or erroneous substance that had became adhered to. After, the sample was placed into an oven for 3mins to dry thoroughly & was then measured by a set of balance scales set to 200g delicacy. Spearman’s rank statistical test was used to analyse the total amount of plastic pollution present at each beach located within the Napoli radius markers.

3. Results 3.1.

Plastic characteristics The plastic matter found was largely that of fragmented pieces from a larger unaccounted for source.

From purely visual observations that it seemed to be that of high density polyethylene, polypropylene & polystyrene were the most commonly found. Most items had been at some stage been dermally abraded & thus resulted in a most items exhibited a smooth exterior surface - the most likely source of this could be the coarse substrate in which it settled upon. That being so, the smallest item found was no more than 2mm plastic industrial pellet found at Charmouth, while the largest item was 4cm across Polypropylene (PP) fragment at Sidmouth.

3.2.

Distribution & Abundance of Plastic particles

Plastic debris was clearly visible on all beaches visited in the investigation with it being the most abundant form of litter in some locations. Many large pieces were easily picked up by frequent ‘litterpicks’ & deposed of, but it wasn’t until the sediment was graded by the sediment tower that it was evident that in fact areas of ‘clean’ beach were contaminated by plastic particles, with nearly 1/5 quadrat samples containing plastic matter. During this investigation it was also found that the most prevalent area for plastic debris was that 5m either side of the spring high tide strandline / winter berm level on each beach. This is important as it suggested that plastic particles suspended in the seawater are in fact being deposited high up the shoreline where they become stranded and amalgamated with other material (organic & inorganic) and thus plastic material is being ‘spread’ across the whole of the beach dynamic. Additionally, out of 100 quadrats sampled, 18 had plastic within them at different locations, thus demonstrating an apparent accumulation of plastic debris is not restricted to particular areas of the bay but is disbursed along the whole coastline. Spearman’s rank statistical analysis confirmed that indeed that the beaches the furthest from the Napoli (those located at the 40km radius markers) were in fact the more polluted with plastic particles then the ones located within the 20km radius inclusion zone. Hence may null hypothesis that the Napoli had marginal impact on the rate of plastic pollution was adopted leading to further investigation into the distribution of plastic particle matter in the bay.

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Bethany D Gay Plastic Beach: The Napoli Legacy - accumulation of plastic particle pollution on our shores

4. Discussion & Afterthought The beaching of the MSC Napoli in an Area of outstanding natural beauty & that of a UNESCO world heritage site is now an infamous pivotal incident into how management of shipping & conservation efforts is done. Plastic pollution littering the shoreline is fast becoming a legacy for the next generation to solve.

In this investigation the size ranged considerably with the small item found being no more than 2mm pellet, while the largest being 17cm across piece of polystyrene with computer chip software still imbedded within on Branscombe beach. Logic would suggest that the accumulation of plastic matter who be the highest surrounding the incident but demographically speaking the highest amount was discovered at beaches with large tourist input. Quite simply it could be that after the MSC Napoli incident local councils spent a great deal of time & resources into the clearing of debris from this particular stretch of shoreline to reduce the harm to wildlife, tourists (& constituency members) where the local economy is dependent on Lyme bay aesthetics. Thus, the end result could be interpreted as that localised areas without the major clearance operations has more plastic debris than areas which benefited from such aid. Of course there are many factors into the distribution of plastic matter on our shorelines & would be foolish to assume that plastic abundance / distribution is due to just one particular element. But the question remains; could the small amounts of plastic found at Branscombe reflect that the plastic debris has had little chance to be fragmented or dermal abraded due to the efficiency of consistent beach clearance?

A small beach clearance of 40m was conducted at each sample site to identify any large debris which could be the cause of the plastic pellets in the sediment. This small investigation interestingly found that most items at each site inadvertently reflected the main utilisation in the region. The plastic found on the beaches of Sidmouth, Branscombe & Budleigh Salterton had a large quantity of discarded fishing matter where as the more tourists orientated Charmouth & Dawlish warren had an exceedingly large quantity of domestic waste, such a food containers & beverage bottles.

Furthermore, it is remarkable to see that the results suggest it is in fact land based sources are the greatest polluter & the Napoli incident must not become a scapegoat for the accumulating plastic debris on the shores of Lyme bay. Of course, It would be ignorant to suggested that all members of the public are irresponsible with their waste as local members of the public must be accounted for who also conduct litter picks unnoticed by many, as well as the well publicised larger organisations and charities, such as the Marine Conservation Society â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Beachwatchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; campaign who organised voluntary group beach cleans.

Stranded shoreline plastic debris are not the only issue, after the incident Natural England conducted a benthic survey into the reefs east of the MSC Napoli location for impact assessment , i.e. structural reef damage, and found that a noticeable amount of debris , of all types, were scatted along the Eastern reef (Marine Bio-images, 2007). The shoreline is also showing the remnants as reminders of the past, as during this investigation in 2011 a small crude oil, tar ball (1.5cm by 2.5cm) was located at Branscombe beach (SY20475 BNG88103). Nonetheless, a real issue is that of the dispersion of plastic debris by natural forces, such as that of swell or wind velocity. The South west of England is blessed by the Gulf Stream which warms its waters, but it also could be inadvertently acting as a conveyor belt for transcontinental waste. Few studies have been conducted of natural movement of debris but as with desolate frozen coast of Alaska (Merrell Jr, 1980) or even the isolated atolls of St. Lucia (Singh, 1993) & Hawaii (McMullen, 2004)(Azzarello, 1987)noticing plastic ever growing numbers of plastic from international sources on its shores. These studies into plastic debris and oceanographic currents could help to clarify why plastic is becoming so extensive relocated along the southern Englandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coastline to such a high degree - in 2010 it was found that SW England has the highest beach litter count in the UK (Marine Conservation Society, 2010).

Despite that the Napoli shed a large portion of its cargo on the shoreline of Lyme bay; it appears from a purely visual perspective that the majority of plastic particulate waste has been successfully cleared compared to the sheer amount of debris seen in the spring of 2007/08. The National Trust is a

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Bethany D Gay Plastic Beach: The Napoli Legacy - accumulation of plastic particle pollution on our shores

large landowner of this particular stretch of coastline and have been conducting ‘beach cleans’ periodically to ensure that this alien debris is removed & pose no further risk to marine life or man.

However, as highlight in Costa’s 2009 study, plastic composition can drastically affect the final deposition location within the marine ecosystem & that we may only see a small proportion of debris on the shoreline - because most may be deposited on the seafloor.

Even though plastic particles scattered along the shore are aesthetically displeasing to the observer, as always with the world, it is the things that are ‘invisible’ to us that are potentially the most harmful. As plastic is degraded in the highly corrosive saline waters it slowly reverts back to its basic chemical molecular structure; thus forming a plastic ‘soup’. For the marine world & indeed the human race this could be devastating as already demonstrated through previous studies, small scale bioaccumulation of plastic is now occurring on a global scale. The worst case scenario would be if significant or locally concentrated plastic degradation was to reach the zooplankton of the trophic levels of productivity which would lead to widespread inclusion of plastic into the universal food web.

Of course this is mere theorising applied to a global level... but the potential is a real one.

Surely then something must be done and the most obvious solution to reduce to amount of plastic debris becoming stranded the UK’s shoreline is tackle the issue from the source with more responsible (& ultimately) more efficient waste management. At present, the local water body, South West Water Ltd, have running their own programme on improving bathing waters in the region called the ‘Operation: Clean sweep’. But sadly this largely focused of microbial & faecal pollution rather than that of plastic debris. A possible resolution could be by simply adding a mesh frame to storm-drain outflow piping, thus preventing street refuse entering the marine system or through education by public engagement or academic involvement to raise public awareness to nurture future intellectuals on how to resolve such as contentious issue. Realistically, prevention is far better than cure, else it would become a life time of clearing areas only be sullied once more – thus not only wasting valuable time, but also resources in maintaining beaches to such high standards required not only by the UK and European Union legislation but by us, regular member of the public as well.

Nonetheless the issue is not going to solve itself and only by acting now may we see change before it is too late. A clear example of change occurring can be demonstrated through a particularly interesting discovery that was seen during the sampling at Budleigh Salterton (SX 999 811), an empty ‘mermaids purse’ of that of Raja brachyura (blonde ray) was found, intentionally, attached to a piece of amalgamated mono-filament netting. In one perspective this could be an indicator of local marine life utilising the encroaching plastic debris, on the other it demonstrate indirect anthropogenic pressure on marine species. In addition to being an important source indicator that this particular piece of debris was in fact from the marine environment & not land sourced before becoming stranded on the beach.

Nevertheless, at present action is being taken, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) have produced, with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), a dossier to on marine debris ‘Guidelines on survey & monitoring of marine litter (2009)’ & it is hoped that in the future a standardised survey may be preformed to allow smooth transition of data on a global format.

As Costa suggests in her 2009 survey, investigations using a transect–quadrat methodology only delivers a snapshot of plastic debris accumulation and distribution at a certain point in a certain time frame & only with periodical assessment can we be able to accurately quantify the amount on plastic debris. In perspective the area sampled in this investigation was only a very small sample in relation to the beach dynamic as a whole. For example, the calculated conservative estimate of beach of Branscombe size say, would be 19.94m² was analysed for plastic debris on a 300,000m² beach area thus resulting in a only comparatively small percentage of the beach actually of been investigated.

Hence obviously, further investigation in to plastic pollution distribution & deposition is vital if we are to truly understand the scale & ultimately to discover the appropriate solution to this ever increasing problem. From this investigation some may feel that it demonstrates that there is little plastic pollution on our shores & especially that introduced by the beaching of the Napoli, but it worth to bear in mind that even though very diminutive numbers of plastic was found were found, in reality it should not have been there at all!

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Bethany D Gay Plastic Beach: The Napoli Legacy - accumulation of plastic particle pollution on our shores

Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge Trudy Russell (FMS) for her technological support and the local people of East Devon and West Dorset for their invaluable local perspective on marine pollution in Lyme bay.

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Bethany D Gay Plastic Beach: The Napoli Legacy - accumulation of plastic particle pollution on our shores

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