The flip-or-flop boutique: Marine debris on the shores of St Brandon’s Rock, an isolated tropical atoll in the Indian OceanShow others and affiliations
2016 (English)In: Marine Environmental Research, ISSN 0141-1136, E-ISSN 1879-0291, Vol. 114, p. 58-64Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Isolated coral atolls are not immune from marine debris accumulation. We identified Southeast Asia, the Indian sub-continent, and the countries on the Arabian Sea as most probable source areas of 50 000 items on the shores of St. Brandon’s Rock (SBR), Indian Ocean. 79% of the debris was plastics. Flip-flops, energy drink bottles, and compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) were notable item types. The density of debris (0.74 m-1 shore length) is comparable to similar islands but less than mainland sites. Intact CFLs suggests product-facilitated long-range transport of mercury. We suspect that aggregated marine debris, scavenged by the islands from currents and gyres, could re-concentrate pollutants. SBR islets accumulated debris types in different proportions suggesting that many factors act variably on different debris types. Regular cleaning of selected islets will take care of most of the accumulated debris and may improve the ecology and tourism potential. However, arrangements and logistics require more study.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2016. Vol. 114, p. 58-64
Keywords [en]
Plastic, Polyurethane foam, Mercury, Management, Wreck, Compact fluorescent light
National Category
Environmental Sciences Oceanography, Hydrology and Water Resources Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Other Chemistry Topics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-123712DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2015.12.013ISI: 000370095600007OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-123712DiVA, id: diva2:892348
Note
Funding agencies: South African Regional Cooperation Fund for Scientific Research and Technological Development [65290]
2016-01-102016-01-102018-01-10Bibliographically approved