Marine debris contamination of beaches in St. Lucia and Dominica

Corbin, Cristina; Singh, Joth G.

doi:10.1016/0025-326x(93)90575-5

Cited by 89 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Environmental factors-particularly wind forcing-have been reported to be of major importance in regulating litter abundance in previous studies on islands (e.g. Corbin et al, 1993;Debrot et al, 1999;Orfila et al, 2005) and explain both the differences in litter amounts observed on nearby beaches and the accumulation in certain beach sectors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Origin and abundance of beach debris in the Balearic Islands

Martinez-Ribes¹,

Basterretxea²,

Palmer³

et al. 2007

Sci. Mar.

122

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, which is comparable to the results of other studies in the Mediterranean. Multivariate analyses (principal component analysis and redundancy analysis) confirmed strong similarities between islands and a statistically significant seasonal evolution of litter composition and abundance. In summer (the high tourist season), debris contamination expressed as item abundance was double that in the low season and showed a heterogeneous nature associated with beach use. Cigarette butts were the most abundant item, accounting for up to 46% of the objects observed in the high tourist season. In contrast, plastics related to personal hygiene/medical items were predominant in wintertime (67%) and natural wood was the most important debris by weight (75%). In both seasons, litter characteristics suggested a strong relationship with local land-based origins. While beach users were the main source of summer debris, low tourist season litter was primarily attributed to drainage and outfall systems.Keywords: Balearic Islands, beach, debris, litter, Mediterranean Sea, tourism. RESUMEN: ORIGEN Y ABUNDANCIA DE RESIDUOS EN PLAYAS DE LAS ISLAS BALEARES. -En un estudio realizado durante el año 2005 se analizó la abundancia, naturaleza y posibles orígenes de los residuos presentes en 32 playas de las Islas Baleares (mar Mediterráneo). La abundancia media de objetos en verano fue de aproximadamente 36 objetos por metro lineal, con un peso correspondiente de 32±25 g por metro lineal, lo cual es comparable a otros estudios en el Mediterráneo. El estudio mediante análisis multivariantes (Análisis de Componentes Principales y Análisis de Redundancia) confirma importantes similitudes entre islas, además de una evolución estacional estadísticamente significante en la composición y abundancia de los residuos. La contaminación durante el verano, expresada en términos de abundancia de objetos en la playa, duplica el valor registrado en invierno. Además, los objetos hallados durante esta época son de naturaleza heterogénea lo que se asocia con los vertidos realizados por los usuarios de las playas. De lo recogido en verano, las colillas son el residuo más abundante, alcanzando un 46% de los objetos observados. Por el contrario, los plásticos, y en particular los relacionados con el aseo personal y las medicinas son el tipo de objeto más común en invierno (67%) y las maderas representan el tipo de residuo más abundante en cuanto a peso (75%). En ambas estaciones, los residuos encontrados muestran una estrecha relación con fuentes de tipo local; mientras que los usuarios de las playas son el mayor foco de residuos en el verano, en invierno éstos se asocian con los sistemas de alcantarillado y emisarios.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Origin and abundance of beach debris in the Balearic Islands

Martinez-Ribes¹,

Basterretxea²,

Palmer³

et al. 2007

Sci. Mar.

122

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Shiber, 1987;Shiber and Barrales-Reinda, 1991;Corbin and Singh, 1993;Madzena and Lasiak, 1997;Walker et al, 1997;Ribic, 1998;Debrot et al, 1999;Silva-Iniquez and Fischer, 2003). By comparison, only sparse data are available on submerged marine litter (Galil et al, 1995;Galgani et al, 1995a,b;Hess et al, 1999;Stefatos et al, 1999;Moore and Allen, 2000) and even much less data are available on submerged litter in shallow coastal and/or coral reef environments (Backhurst and Cole, 2000;Donohue et al, 2001;Nagelkerken et al, 2001;Chiappone et al, 2002;Katsanevakis and Katsarou, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…The impacts of litter on marine wildlife, tourism and human health have been documented (Dixon and Dixon, 1981;Joyner and Frew, 1991;Corbin and Singh, 1993;Williams et al, 1993;Philipp et al, 1994). The ingestion of litter and entanglement in marine debris for many marine animals and birds has been documented (Harris and Walness, 1994;Laist, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Marine litter in coral reef areas along the Jordan Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea

Abu-Hilal

Al-Najjar²

2009

Journal of Environmental Management

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“…They found that Panama itself is contributing to 53% of the litter while other countries of the Caribbean region; US and other distant sources are contributing 57% of the litter counts. Corbin and Singh (1993) investigated the litter on the beaches of another two islands in the Caribbean region. They also found that plastic was the most common item in St. Lucia, 51.3% by number, while driftwood was most common in Dominica, 35.9% by counts.…”

Section: Comparison With Litter From Other Coastlinesmentioning

confidence: 99%