Save The Sea Turtles International

Transcription

1 Save The Sea Turtles International DBA Adopt A Beach Hawaii Conservation Through Preservation and Education 15- Year Report for Top 33 Trash Debris s Save The Sea Turtles International DBA Adopt A Beach Hawaii Kamehameha Highway Suite 940 Haleiwa, Hawaii, (808)

2 Adopt a Beach Hawaii and Save the Sea Turtles International has conducted a 15- year study of the Top 33 Debris items collected from North Shore and South Shore Beaches for the island of O ahu for the last 15 years. We would like to thank The Nature Conservancy, Ocean Conservancy, Keep America Beautiful, Keep the Hawaiian Islands Beautiful, The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency,) UH Mānoa, the State of Hawaii Parks and Recreations division and Nani O Wai anae for the support to continue our study. The Top 33 Debris s are from the Coastal Cleanup data sheets provided by Ocean Conservancy and the Environmental Protection Agency. However, over the years we began to see other debris items that washed up on our shores with regularity, and we added some of those items to our list. Below are the top 33 items we regularly collect: 2

3 These are the Top 33 items from : Bags (Paper) Bags (Plastic) Balloons Beverage Bottles (Plastic) Beverage Bottles (Glass) Beverage Cans Caps/Lids to Bottles Clothing/Shoes Plates, Cups, Silverware Food Wrapper, Containers Pull Tabs/Six pack holders Straws/Stirrers Toys Bait Containers Bleach/Cleaner Bottles Floats/Buoys Small Pieces of Plastic/Microplastic Fishing Line Fishing Lures/Light sticks Fishing Nets/Traps Light Bulbs/Tubes Oil/Lube Containers Pallets Plastic Sheeting/Tarps Rope/Strapping Bands Styrofoam Cigarette/Filters Cigar Tips Lighters Tobacco Packaging Appliances Building Materials Tires Batteries Car/ Car Parts Bags of Broken Glass Condoms Syringes/Drugs/Paraphernalia Diapers Tampons and applicators Surfboard Pieces Road Reflectors Surf Wax/Wrappers Band-Aids. s listed Prior to 2009: Animal Feces Cruise line Logos Shotgun Shell/Wadding 55-Gallon Drums. Ship Netting for Cargo We also have cleaned up Miscellaneous items such as: Coolers A Bowling Ball Bicycle Parts Car Axles Mattresses Homeless Campsite trash (vary and sundry items) Sunglasses Sunscreen Containers Styrofoam Gloves Paper /Foil A Boston Whaler (Broken and buried at Kaiaka Beach.) Ship Netting for Cargo. Styrofoam Fireworks 3

4 Here are the Top Ten Trash items For the last 15 Years: 1. Small Pieces of Plastic 1,031, Cigarettes 325, Food Wrappers 48, Caps/Lids to Containers 55, Bags Plastic 23, Plates, Cups. Silverware 26, Beverage (Glass) 20, Beverage (Plastic) 14, Beverage Cans 12, Straws/Stirrers 8,603 One observation about the trash collected is that we have noticed a pattern of where on the island certain trash is to be found. For example, some beaches are known particularly for fishing activities or surfing, so we would expect to find certain trash items at those beaches. However, the overall trash that is found at all Beaches, regardless of location are the small pieces of plastic and Micro- Plastic. We know now that these contribute to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch as we are in the Current patterns that drift our trash to that particular part of the ocean. (See Honolulu Star Bulletin Article, 12/15/14 Pg. 5) (B3) Another observation made during the 15- year study was that we are able to map the area of the island where the trash is found, as we stated earlier, and we have also been able to draw conclusions about the demographics of O ahu. For example, you rarely find a glass beverage container at Kailua or Lanikai Beaches as those areas have an active community and high property taxes, therefore they have the resources to enforce littering and recycling policies for their town and beaches. In Wai anae, and the North Shore of O ahu, we do not see the same scenario. Wai anae does not have the high property taxes and strong community support to assist with gross polluters or litterers. On the North Shore, we do see higher property taxes, and some commitment to community action against littering, but not as actively as Kailua Town. If there was a greater effort by communities who have severe trash problems, and greater effort by the police, DLNR, or Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enforce the littering and gross polluter laws, we would expect to see a reduction in certain types of trash on O ahu beaches in those areas affected. Adopt a Beach Hawaii has been the only consistent Non Profit Beach Clean up holding monthly cleanups for the last 15 years. We actively encourage people to 4

5 adopt a beach in the area of O ahu they live in, data cards are available online at Send us your monthly data of debris items collected. This program has had success in many parts of O ahu Beaches that have not been traditionally litter free. All information /data is going to City and County of Hawai i, The State of Hawai i, Ocean Conservancy, The Environmental Protection Agency, NOAA, Nature Conservancy, Adopt A Highway, and Keep America Beautiful/Keep Hawaiian Islands Beautiful. At our monthly Cleanups we always gave a lecture on recycling and beach clean ups, as well as giving volunteers educational handouts about how the Volunteers who attend the Monthly Cleanups can educate others to help keep our beaches and oceans trash free. We have had a new trend of volunteers, primarily the Military and School groups. They have traditionally been active participants in the clean ups, but as they observed the pallets burned for firewood, and the burned nails left behind, they have become quite proactive in cleaning beaches that are used for bonfire activity. Another item that has become one of our top items of debris is cigarette butts. With a new trend by Car rental agencies to not provide ashtrays in their newer vehicles, smokers throw the butts out the window. We have done Adopt a Highway for many years, from the signal light at the bypass in Haleiwa to the North Shore just beyond Chun s Reef. Cigarette butts are one of our primary debris items collected from the side of the highway. 5 Another issue which appeared in late early 2012 was Tsunami Debris from the Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami 3/11/11. We started to see larger pieces of debris such as pieces of boats, coolers, parts of piers, as well as plastics and micro plastics. The issue was we were unable to touch any of that debris due to radioactivity from the Fukushima Nuclear Plant failure. As we continued to clean the beaches around O ahu for the next few years, the question was always is this trash radioactive? and as we had no Geiger counter, the supposition was yes, probably, but we continued the cleanups anyway. Finally, our greatest challenge, and the number one debris item are plastic and micro plastic. We harvested 280,000 tons of plastic and micro- plastic from O ahu beaches from This is the most challenging of debris items to gather, as it often entails sitting on a patch of beach and using a sieve to sift the micro- plastic out of the sand. As Kara Lavendar Law of the Sea Education Association from Woods Hole, MA states: Am I being poisoned by eating the fish on my plate?" she asked. "We have very little knowledge of the chain of events that could lead to that. But it's a plausible scenario that plastic ingested at lower levels of the food web could have consequences at higher levels of the food chain." We know that the micro-plastic hangs with Krill in the ocean, which are then eaten by small fish, who in turn are eaten

6 By large fish, which we catch to eat, and by eating the fish we are ingesting plastic as well. We do know today that the long-term effects of ingesting plastic have serious health consequences. By cleaning the plastic and micro-plastic from our beaches we can help reduce the micro-plastic in the ocean, and help alleviate the problem from our own food chain. We are taking Adopt A Beach Hawaii Cleanups online in 2015, creating a program where anyone, globally, can go to our website, learn how to adopt a beach in the part of the globe they live, have their community take charge of the debris items in their community, and then send the data to We will be able to show people globally how And what type of debris they are collecting in their community! Our Mission statement is Conservation Through Preservation and Education Our goal is to help communities globally to put this mission statement into action within their own community! Aloha, Mahalo and Malama Pono, Marlu West Director of Save the Sea Turtles International DBA Adopt a Beach Hawaii 6

7 Honolulu Star Advertiser: Study: 270,000 tons of plastic floating in oceans By Associated Press POSTED: 01:50 p.m. HST, Dec 10, 2014 LAST UPDATED: 05:04 p.m. HST, Dec 10, 2014 (Plastic and debris floating in the Ala Wai Canal) A new study estimates nearly 270,000 tons of plastic is floating in the world's oceans. That's enough to fill more than 38,500 garbage trucks. The plastic is broken up into more than 5 trillion pieces, said the study published Wednesday in the scientific journal PLUS ONE. Dennis Oda: A pile of garbage, including plastic bottles, foam trays and paper, lingered in the Ala Wai Canal for all of yesterday. Officials are not sure why the trash just sat there. The paper is the latest in a nascent field where scientists are trying to better understand how much of the synthetic material is entering the oceans and how it's affecting fish, seabirds and the larger marine ecosystem. The study's lead author is Markus Eriksen of the 5 Gyres Institute, an organization that aims to reduce plastic in the oceans. To gather data, researchers dragged a fine mesh net at the sea surface to gather small pieces. Observers on boats counted larger items. 7

8 Honolulu Star Advertiser: Study: 270,000 tons of plastic floating in oceans cont. They used computer models to calculate estimates for tracts of ocean not surveyed. The study only measured plastic floating at the surface. Plastic on the ocean floor wasn't included. Bits greater than about 8 inches accounted for three-quarters of the plastic that the research estimated is in the ocean. Kara Lavender Law of the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, who wasn't involved in the study, said the researchers gathered Data in areas where scientists currently don't have measurements for floating plastic debris, including the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean near Antarctica and the South Atlantic. In addition, the study's estimate for tiny plastic bits less than one-fifth of an inch -- about 35,540 Tons -- is comparable to an earlier study by researchers in Spain who used different methodology, Law said. That study estimated there was 7,000 to 35,000 tons of plastics this size floating in the ocean. It's encouraging that two different approaches came up with such similar answers, given how difficult it is to measure plastic in the ocean, she said. Studying the amount of plastic in the ocean will help scientists understand how the material will affect the environment and potentially the food chain. For example, Law said, we might eat tuna that has ingested another fish that has eaten plastic that has in turn eaten another fish with plastic. These plastics could potentially have toxic chemicals. "Am I being poisoned by eating the fish on my plate?" she asked. "We have very little knowledge of the chain of events that could lead to that. But it's a plausible scenario that plastic ingested at lower levels of the food web could have consequences at higher levels of the food chain." 8

9 Top 10 Trash s for Years Top 10 s for 1999 s Cigarette 3500 Caps/Lids 2278 Food Wrappers, containers 1875 Shotgun & Wadding 1322 Bags (paper) 730 Beverage Bottles (glass) 432 Plates cups, Silverware 378 Small pieces of plastic 295 Straws/ Stirrers 228 Beverage Cans 187 Top 10 s for 2000 s Amount Small Pieces of Plastic 2114 Cigarette/Filters 1122 Rope/Strapping Bands 719 Fishing nets/ traps 426 Caps and lids 297 Fishing line 175 Plastic Bags 169 Plastic Bottles 168 Building materials 136 Straws 92 Top 10 s for 2001 Amount Small Pieces of plastic Cigarettes 2735 Rope/strapping bands 887 Fishing Nets/Trap 671 Building Materials 590 Fishing Line 573 Beverage Cans 479 Bait Containers 460 Plastic Bags 355 Light Bulbs/Tubes 354 9

10 Top 10 s for 2002 Cigarette/Filters 3788 Foodland 1406 Caps/Lids 388 Food wrappers, Containers 316 Plastic Bags 220 Beverage cans 200 Plates, Cup, Silverware 144 Balloons 124 Beverage Bottles (glass) 96 Pallets 72 Top 10 s for 2003 Small pieces Of Plastic Cigarette/Filters 2260 Food wrappers, Containers 724 Rope/ strapping Bands 718 Building Materials 623 Caps/ Lids to bottle 542 Beverage Bottles (Plastic) 496 Lightbulbs/Tubes 495 Plastic Bags 453 Beverage can 392 Top 10 s for 2004 Small pieces Of Plastic 1667 Cigarette/Filters 1620 Food wrappers, Containers 790 Lightbulbs/Tubes 674 Rope/ strapping Bands 604 Beverage Bottles (Plastic) 367 Styrofoam 315 Plastic Bags 260 Beverage Cans 201 Fishing Lines

11 Top 10 s for 2005 Cigarette/Filters Caps/Lids to Bottles Food wrappers, Containers Beverage Bottles (glass) 8285 Plates, Cups, silverware 5379 Plastic Bags 4650 Beverage bottles (Plastic) 3824 Beverage Cans 3518 Fishing Lines 3456 Straws/ Stirrers 2945 Top 10 s for 2006 Cigarette/Filters Building Materials 9963 Small Pieces of plastic 7324 Cap/Lids to Bottles 1622 Tires 1306 Bags (paper) 1090 Food Wrappers, Containers 1087 Plates, Cups, Silverware 892 Beverage Bottles (plastic) 858 Beverage Bottles (glass) 703 Top Ten s for 2007 Cigarette/Filters Caps/Lids to Bottles Food Wrappers, Containers Plates, Cups, Silverware 7354 Bags (plastic) 6866 Beverage Bottles (glass) 5008 Straws/Stirrers 3175 Beverage Bottles (plastic) 2965 Beverage Cans 2932 Pull Tabs/ six Pack Holders

12 Top 10 s for 2008 Cigarette/Filters 6020 Plates, Cups, Silverware 1810 Food Wrappers, Containers 1695 Rope/ Strapping Bands 611 Beverage Bottles (glass) 544 Beverage Cans 286 Beverage Bottles (plastic) 245 Plastic Bags 237 Clothing, shoes 216 Car Parts 214 Top 10 s for 2009 Cigarette/Filters Food Wrappers, Containers 6499 Plastic Bags 4991 Small pieces of Plastic 4615 Caps/ Lids to Bottles 3693 Plates, Cups, Silverware 2545 Styrofoam 1593 Beverage Bottles (glass) 1546 Beverage Cans 1286 Paper Bags 997 Top 10 s for 2010 Cigarette/Filters Caps/ Lids to Bottles 1870 Food Wrappers, Containers 1758 Plastic bags 1616 Paper Bags 1053 Beverage Bottles (glass) 890 Plates, Cups, Silverware 866 Small Pieces of Plastic 624 Beverage Cans 436 Straws/Stirrers

13 Top 10 s for 2011 Cigarette/Filters Small Pieces of Plastic 2457 Food Wrappers, Containers 2367 Caps/ Lids to Bottles 2131 Balloons 1866 Plastic Bags 1409 Beverage Bottles (glass) 1160 Beverage Bottles (plastic) 600 Straws/Stirrers 597 Beverage Cans 525 Top 10 s for 2012 Cigarette/Filters Caps/ Lids to Bottles 2567 Small Pieces Of Plastic 2533 Plastic Bags 1492 Beverage Bottles (glass) 1330 Paper Bags 1157 Plates, Cups, Silverware 991 Straws/Stirrers 562 Beverage Bottles (Plastic) 521 Clothing, Shoes 525 Top 10 s for 2013 Cigarette/Filters Small Pieces Of Plastic 3155 Food Wrappers, Containers 2259 Caps/ Lids To Bottles 2236 Paper Bags 1364 Plastic Bags 1244 Plates, Cups, Silverware 1040 Beverage bottles (Glass) 864 Straws/ Stirrers 585 Beverage Cans

14 Top 10 s for 2014 Cigarette/Filters Rope/Strapping Bands 3653 Caps/ Lids To Bottles 2000 Small Pieces Of Plastic 1944 Food Wrappers, Containers 1607 Plastic Bags 1259 Floats/Buoys 822 Beverage Bottles (glass) 813 Plates, Cups, Silverware 805 Beverage Bottles (plastic) 756 cc: Linda O Brien 14