Marine debris on two Arctic beaches in the Russian Far East
Keywords:
Plastic debris, Chukchi Sea, Chukchi Peninsula, Kolyuchin Bay, Wrangel Island, pollution
Abstract
In August 2005, marine debris was counted on two Arctic beaches in the Russian Far East. On the north coast of the Chukchi Peninsula east of Kolyuchin Bay, a beach stretch of ca. 2.4 km held a total of 736 items, 0.024 items m‑2, while no more than 0.0011 items m‑2, 12 items in total, were found on a beach stretch of ca. 1.2 km on southern Wrangel Island. The likely explanation for this difference is that the area around the mainland beach is ice-free for a longer period each year, but a contributing factor may be that late spring ice movement removed plastic from the beach on Wrangel Island. The language on the few items with identifiable labels was for the most part Russian or English, making the Chukchi Sea a possible source region. Beaches at the same latitude in the Atlantic may hold more debris on account of the higher human population density, more shipping and transport of floating debris unhindered by a narrow strait that is ice-covered much of the year. Fishing gear blown across the tundra is suggested as a potential threat to reindeer and other terrestrial wildlife.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
Metrics
Metrics Loading ...
References
Bergmann M., Lutz B., Tekman M.B. & Gutow L. 2017. Citizen scientists reveal: marine litter pollutes Arctic beaches and affects wild life. Marine Pollution Bulletin 125, 535–540, doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.09.055.
Bergmann M., Sandhop N., Schewe I. & D’Hert D. 2015. Observations of floating anthropogenic litter in the Barents Sea and Fram Strait, Arctic. Polar Biology 39, 553–560, doi: 10.1007/s00300-015-1795-8.
Bouwman H., Evans S.W., Cole N., Choong Kwet Yive N.S. & Kylin H. 2016. The flip-or-flop boutique: marine debris on the shores of St Brandon’s Rock, an isolated atoll in the Indian Ocean. Marine Environmental Research 114, 58–64, doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2015.12.013.
Carpenter E.J., Andersen S.J., Harvey G.R., Miklas H.P. & Peck B.B. 1972. Polystyrene spherules in coastal waters. Science 178, 749–750, doi: 10.1126/science.178.4062.749.
Carpenter E.J. & Smith K.L. 1972. Plastics on the Sargasso Sea surface. Science 175, 1240–1241, doi: 10.1126/science.175.4027.1240.
Cheshire A.C., Adler E., Barbière J., Cohen Y., Evans S., Jarayabhand S., Jeftic L., Jung R.T., Kinsey S., Kusui E.T., Lavine I., Manyara P., Oosterbaan L., Pereira M.A., Sheavly S., Tkalin A., Varadarajan S., Wenneker B. & Westphalen G. 2009. UNEP/IOC guidelines on survey and monitoring of marine litter. UNEP Regional Seas Reports and Studies 186. IOC Technical Series 83. Nairobi: United Nations Environment Programme, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.
Cózar A., Martí E., Duarte C.M., García-de-Lomas J., van Sebille E., Ballatore T.J., Eguíluz V.M., González-Gordillo J.I., Pedrotte M.L., Echevarría F., Troublè R. & Irigoien X. 2017. The Arctic Ocean as a dead end for floating plastics in the North Atlantic branch of the thermohaline circulation. Science Advances 3, e1600582, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1600582.
Eriksson C. & Burton H. 2003. Origin and biological accumulation of small plastic particles in fur seals from Macquarie Island. Ambio 32, 380–384, doi: 10.1639/0044-7447(2003)032[0380:OABAOS]2.0.CO;2.
Eriksson C., Burton H., Fitch S., Schulz M. & van den Hoff J. 2013. Daily accumulation rates of marine debris on sub-Antarctic island beaches. Marine Pollution Bulletin 66, 199–208, doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2012.08.026.
Galgani F., Hanke G., Werner S., Oosterbaan L., Nilsson P., Fleet D., McKinsey S., Thompson R., Van Franeker J., Vlachogianni T., Scoullos M., Mira Veiga J., Palatinus A., Matiddi M., Maes T., Korpinen S., Budziak A., Leslie H., Gago J. & Liebezeit G. 2013. MSFD technical group on marine litter, guidance on monitoring of marine litter in European seas. JRC Scientific and Policy Reports. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. doi: 10.2788/99475.
Grøsvik B.E., Prokhorova T., Eriksen E., Krivosheya P., Horneland P.A. & Prozorkevich D. 2018. Assessment of marine litter in the Barents Sea, a part of the Joint Norwegian–Russian Ecosystem Survey. Frontiers in Marine Science 5, UNSP 72, doi: 10.3389/fmars.2018.00072.
Halband C. & Herzke D. 2017. Marine plastics and microplastics. In: AMAP assessment 2016: chemicals of emerging Arctic concern. Pp. 269–275. Oslo: Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme.
Hallanger I.G. & Gabrielsen G.W. 2018. Plastic in the European Arctic. Norwegian Polar Institute Brief Report 45. Tromsø: Norwegian Polar Institute.
Lavers J.L. & Bond A.L. 2017. Exceptional and rapid accumulation of anthropogenic debris on one of the world’s most remote and pristine islands. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 114, 6052–6055, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1619818114.
Lusher A.L., Tirelli V., O’Connor I. & Officer R. 2015. Microplastics in Arctic polar waters: the first reported values of particles in surface and sub-surface samples. Scientific Reports 5, article no. 14947, doi: 10.1038/srep14947.
OSPAR. 2010. Guideline for monitoring marine litter on the beaches in the OSPAR maritime area. London: OSPAR Commission.
Poeta G., Battisti C., Bazzichetto M. & Acosta A.T.R. 2016. The cotton buds beach: marine litter assessment along the Tyrrhenian coast of central Italy following the marine strategy framework directive criteria. Marine Pollution Bulletin 113, 266–270, doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.09.035.
Rickberg S. (ed.) 2006. Yearbook 2005. Stockholm: Swedish Polar Research Secretariat.
Rosevelt C., Los Huertos M., Garza C. & Nevins H.M. 2013. Marine debris in central California: quantifying type and abundance of beach litter in Monterey Bay, CA. Marine Pollution Bulletin 71, 299–306, doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.01.015.
Ryan P.G., Lamprecht A., Swanelpoel D. & Moloney C.L. 2014. The effect of fine-scale sampling frequency on estimates of beach litter accumulation. Marine Pollution Bulletin 88, 249–254, doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.08.036.
Seltenrich N. 2015. New link in the food chain? Marine plastic pollution and seafood safety. Environmental Health Perspectives 123, A34–A41, doi: 10.1289/ehp.123-A34.
Tekman M.B., Krumpen T. & Bergmann M. 2017. Marine litter on deep Arctic seafloor continues to increase and spreads to the North at the HAUSGARTEN observatory. Deep-Sea Research Part I 120, 88–99, doi: 10.1016/j.dsr.2016.12.011.
Thompson R.C., La Belle B.E., Bouwman H. & Neretin L. 2011. Marine debris as a global environmental problem: introducing a solutions-based framework focused on plastic. A STAP Information Document. Washington, DC: Global Environment Facility.
Trevail A.M., Kuhn S. & Gabrielsen G.W. 2015. The state of marine microplastic pollution in the Arctic. Norwegian Polar Institute Brief Report 33. Tromsø: Norwegian Polar Institute.
Vegter A.C., Barletta M., Beck C., Borrero J., Burton H., Compbell M.L., Costa M.F., Eriksen M., Eriksson C., Estrades A., Gilardi K.V.K., Hardesty B.D., Ivar do Sul J.A., Lavers J.L., Lazar B., Lebreton L., Nichols W.J., Ribic C.A., Ryan P.G., Schuyler Q.A., Smith S.D.A., Takada H., Townsend K.A., Wabnitz C.C.C., Wilcox C., Young L.C. & Hamann M. 2014. Global research priorities to mitigate plastic pollution impacts on marine wildlife. Endangered Species Research 25, 225–247, doi: 10.3354/esr00623.
Wong C.S., MacDonald D. & Cretney W.J. 1976. Tar and particulate pollutants on the Beaufort Sea coast. Beaufort Sea Project Technical Report 13. Victoria, BC: Ocean and Aquatic Sciences Canada.
Yangjun W., Ren Z., Shanshan G. & Longxia Q. 2018. Investigating the effect of Arctic sea routes on the global maritime container transport system via a generalized Nash equilibrium model. Polar Research 37, article no. 157042, doi: 10.1080/17518369.2018.1547042.
Published
2020-06-11
How to Cite
Kylin H. (2020). Marine debris on two Arctic beaches in the Russian Far East. Polar Research, 39. https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v39.3381
Issue
Section
Research Articles
Authors contributing to Polar Research retain copyright of their work, with first publication rights granted to the Norwegian Polar Institute. Read the journal's full Copyright- and Licensing Policy.
