4. How much litter at sea? Rabat, 8-13 september 2014 COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

4. How much litter at sea? Rabat, 8-13 september 2014 COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

4. How much litter at sea? Rabat, 8-13 september 2014 COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of litter not easy task COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of litter not easy task Megalitter >10cm Macrolitter 0.5<10cm Microplastic 0.5<0.033cm Nanolitter <0.033cm Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of litter not easy task COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of litter not easy task Floating litter Seabottom litter Stranded litter Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating macro-megalitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating macro-megalitter Problems width of observing strip speed of ship/lenght of transect observer efficiency (skill & motivation) Pros low tech/low cost timeseries Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating macro-megalitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating macro-megalitter Sightings Distance sampling Sampling Collection of items Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating macro-megalitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating macro-megalitter Direct count methods, as strip counts, aerial counts, can provide accurate estimates, but such methods are only applicable in few cases Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating macro-megalitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating macro-megalitter An alternative approach which is likely to reduce any bias and improve the precision of abundance estimates is the use of distance sampling methods over a fixed transect. http://www.ruwpa.st-and.ac.uk/Research/DistanceSampling/ Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating macro-megalitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating macro-megalitter Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating macro-megalitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating macro-megalitter Line transect survey When all objects on the line are detected with certainty, the density of objects in the area surveyed (D) is estimated as (Buckland et al., 2001) Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating macro-megalitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating macro-megalitter Line transect survey Line transect sampling approach with a single, randomly placed line of length L. Here six objects have been detected and distances from transect Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating macro-megalitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating macro-megalitter Line transect survey f(0) is more interpreted as 1/µ, where µ corresponds to the perpendicular distance from the transect line within which the number of undetected objects is equal to the number of objects that were detected beyond it. i.e effective strip width. Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating macro-megalitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating macro-megalitter Line transect survey Estimation of the density of objects can also be obtained from estimates of encounter rate (n/L) and f(0) Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating macrolitter: Mediterranean Sea COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating macrolitter: Mediterranean Sea Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating macrolitter: Mediterranean Sea COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating macrolitter: Mediterranean Sea • 167 transect counts, 83 hours of observations and 1538.2 km surveyed. • A total of 1402 floating objects sighted. • Litter densides ranging from 0 to 162.1 items/km2 (mean 24.9 items/km2). • Maximum densities in the Adriac Sea and in the Algerian basin. • Litter represented 78% of all sighted objects, 82% of which were plastc items. Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating macro-megalitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating macro-megalitter Global problem = global solution Easy method to estimate distance: the distance of items when abeam, equals the distance traveled by the ship between two consecutive bearings of the same object taken at 45◦ and 90◦ to the bow. Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating macro-megalitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating macro-megalitter Point Transect Surveys Observer standing at a given position and counting the number of objects seen, (n). Generally, all detections are recorded, regardless of distance from the point. Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating macro-megalitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating macro-megalitter Point Transect Surveys A point transect design consisting of k points, each making up a circular plot of radius w. If n objects are detected within these circular plots the density, D is estimated Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating macro-megalitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating macro-megalitter Global problem = global solution Easiest method Count all you see within estimated strip width. Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating microlitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating microlitter Sampling: Plankton nets Manta net Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating microlitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating microlitter The trawl is towed keeping it floating on the surface, possibly using also a hood that directs surface splash back into the trawl. The trawl opening 90cm wide and 30cm tall. At the end a 333 micron (or .333mm) mesh net and a small collection sock called the cod end Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating microlitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating microlitter Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating microlitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating microlitter Manta net samples processing: plankton and plastics!!! Sieving plastics Count plastics Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating microlitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating microlitter The inside of the mesh net is washed into the cod end, which is then removed, strained, and preserved in a collection jar for land-based analysis. Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating microlitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating microlitter Each sample is labeled and stored with a corresponding data sheet which includes the start and stop time and location of the trawl, start and stop numbers on the flow meter (the flow meter measures the distance trawled), time of day, and any other miscellaneous notable information about the trawl. Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating microlitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating microlitter The samples are sorted by hand with a dissecting microscope. The goal is to separate plastics from the plankton. While some plastic is large and easy to pick out, other plastic is small, similar to the size of zooplankton and requires a lot of time to sort. Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating microlitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating microlitter Debris is sorted in to the following categories: plastics, plankton, and other organic and non-organic matter. The plastics are further categorized as: fragments, styrofoam, pellets, polypropylene monofilament line, thin plastic films, and resin. Each category sorted into size classes using Tyler sieves of 4.75, 2.80, 1.00, 0.71, 0.50, 0.35mm and then counted. Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating microlitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating microlitter to compare plastic and zooplankton the dry weight of each sample group is taken. Plastics are oven dried at 60°C for 1 hour and the plankton and other plant material are oven fried at 60°C for 24 hours, then weighed. All of the data is recorded on datasheets by hand, and then entered into a computer database. Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating microlitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating microlitter to compare plastic and zooplankton the dry weight of each sample group is taken. Plastics are oven dried at 60°C for 1 hour and the plankton and other plant material are oven fried at 60°C for 24 hours, then weighed. All of the data is recorded on datasheets by hand, and then entered into a computer database. Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating microlitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating microlitter Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of floating microlitter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of floating microlitter Typical North Atlantic sample Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of seabottom litter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of seabottom litter Seabottom images and sampling Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of seabottom litter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of seabottom litter Seabottom images and sampling Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of seabottom litter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of seabottom litter Seabottom images and sampling Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of seabottom litter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of seabottom litter Seabottom images and sampling Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of seabottom litter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of seabottom litter Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of seabottom litter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of seabottom litter Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Quantification of stranded litter COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Quantification of stranded litter Sampling design Sightings along transects Sightings at fixed stations Pictures Aerial images, drones Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

4. How much litter at sea? Timeseries COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? Timeseries Timeseries are needed to describe the marine litter Seasonal sampling Volunteers – Citizen science Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

4. How much litter at sea? NANOPLASTIC COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? NANOPLASTIC Nanoplastics are plastic particles that are smaller than 300 microns in length, and have two suspected sources. Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

4. How much litter at sea? NANOPLASTIC COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? NANOPLASTIC One potential source of nanoplastic is from the breaking up of larger pieces. The second and more surprising cause is from consumer products. e.g. face washes and toothpastes contain polyethylene as an abrasive scrubber Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

4. How much litter at sea? NANOPLASTIC COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea 4. How much litter at sea? NANOPLASTIC Since these plastic pieces are too small to be seen, much less counted, there is currently no existing method to characterize the amount of nanoplastic marine debris in the ocean. However, there are multiple challenges to studying nanoplastics in a flow cytometer. Rabat, 8-13 september 2014

Incredibly huge amounts. Need to standardize monitoring COCONET SUMMER COURSE “GES & MPAs” Good Environmental Status and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and Black Sea Q. How much litter at sea? Incredibly huge amounts. Need to standardize monitoring Rabat, 8-13 september 2014