Marine Debris Floating in Arctic and Temperate Northeast Atlantic Waters

Floating marine debris is ubiquitous in marine environments but knowledge about quantities in remote regions is still limited. Here, we present the results of an extensive survey of floating marine debris by experts, trained scientists from fields other than pollution or non-professional citizen scientists. A total of 276 visual ship-based surveys were conducted between 2015 and 2020 in the Northeast (NE) Atlantic from waters off the Iberian Peninsula to the Central Arctic, however, with a focus on Arctic waters. Spatiotemporal variations among regional seas (Central Arctic, Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, Norwegian Sea, North Sea) and oceanic regions (Arctic waters and the temperate NE Atlantic) were explored. The overall median debris concentration was 11 items km-2, with considerable variability. The median concentration was highest in the North Sea with 19 items km-2. The Nordic seas, except the Central Arctic showed median concentrations ranging from 9 to 13 items km-2. Plastic accounted for 91% of all floating items. Miscellaneous fragments, films, ropes and nets, packaging materials, expanded polystyrene and straps were the most frequently observed plastic types. Although the median debris concentration in the Central Arctic was zero, this region was not entirely free of floating debris. The variations between regional seas and oceanic regions were statistically not significant indicating a continuous supply by a northward transportation of floating debris. The data show a slight annual decrease and clear seasonal differences in debris concentrations with higher levels observed during summer. A correlation between debris concentrations and environmental and spatial variables was found, explaining partly the variability in the observations. Pollution levels were 500 times lower than those recorded on the seafloor indicating the seafloor as a sink for marine debris. The Arctic was characterised by similar pollution levels as regions in temperate latitudes highlighting that Arctic ecosystems face threats from plastic pollution, which add to the effects of rapid climate change

Citizen scientists reveal: marine litter pollutes Arctic beaches and affects wild life

Recent data indicate accumulation areas of marine litter in Arctic waters and significant increases over time. Beaches on remote Arctic islands may be sinks for marine litter and reflect pollution levels of the surrounding waters particularly well. We provide the first quantitative data from surveys carried out by citizen scientists on six beaches of Svalbard. Litter quantities recorded by cruise tourists varied from 9-524 g m-2 and were similar to those from densely populated areas. Plastics accounted for >80% of the overall litter, most of which originated from fisheries. Photographs provided by citizens show deleterious effects of beach litter on Arctic wildlife, which is already under strong pressure from global climate change. Our study highlights the potential of citizen scientists to provide scientifically valuable data on the pollution of sensitive remote ecosystems. The results stress once more that current legislative frameworks are insufficient to tackle the pollution of Arctic ecosystems

LITTERBASE - Online Portal for Marine Litter & Microplastics and their Implications for Marine Life

Contamination of the oceans with anthropogenic litter is a global environmental problem which currently receives increasing attention by scientists, policy makers, public authorities, media and the general public. Although research efforts have been intensified, they often do not provide stakeholders with easily understandable information about the dimensions and the extent of the problem. We have developed an online portal to provide easily digestible and continuously updated information on marine litter and microplastics to stakeholders based on scientific literature on a global scale. LITTERBASE gives insight about the distribution of marine litter and its effects on marine biota. Data from 1,420 scientific studies (status 09/10/2017) have been compiled into global maps and real-time graphs to make scientific knowledge accessible to the public. Bibliometric data of all publications were entered, as were metadata pertaining to litter type, litter size, litter quantity unit, aquatic system, biome and total litter quantity. Litter quantities were standardised to the most frequently used units to achieve comparability. Data on biological interactions with litter were also extracted: location of field records, number of species affected, percentage of individuals affected, type of interaction, effects on biota, litter type, litter size, aquatic system and biome. Currently, 1,441 species (status 09/10/2017) have been found to interact with marine litter resulting in mortality in almost 20% of the cases. Web statistics reveal that the information displayed in the LITTERBASE online portal is continuously being retrieved by users from all over the world

Tackling Marine Litter - LITTERBASE

Anthropogenic litter contamination of the oceans is a global problem of growing concern and currently receives strongly increasing attention by policy makers, public authorities, media and the general public. Unlike many other pollutants, marine litter on beaches and its deleterious effects on marine mammals, birds and turtles have attracted much attention as they can be directly observed by stakeholders

Marine litter on deep Arctic seafloor continues to increase and spreads to the North at the HAUSGARTEN observatory

The increased global production of plastics has been mirrored by greater accumulations of plastic litter in marine environments worldwide. Global plastic litter estimates based on field observations account only for 1% of the total volumes of plastic assumed to enter the marine ecosystem from land, raising again the question ‘Where is all the plastic? ’. Scant information exists on temporal trends on litter transport and litter accumulation on the deep seafloor. Here, we present the results of photographic time-series surveys indicating a strong increase in marine litter over the period of 2002–2014 at two stations of the HAUSGARTEN observatory in the Arctic (2500 m depth). Plastic accounted for the highest proportion (47%) of litter recorded at HAUSGARTEN for the whole study period. When the most southern station was considered separately, the proportion of plastic items was even higher (65%). Increasing quantities of small plastics raise concerns about fragmentation and future microplastic contamination. Analysis of litter types and sizes indicate temporal and spatial differences in the transport pathways to the deep sea for different categories of litter. Litter densities were positively correlated with the counts of ship entering harbour at Longyearbyen, the number of active fishing vessels and extent of summer sea ice. Sea ice may act as a transport vehicle for entrained litter, being released during periods of melting. The receding sea ice coverage associated with global change has opened hitherto largely inaccessible environments to humans and the impacts of tourism, industrial activities including shipping and fisheries, all of which are potential sources of marine litter

Impacts of plastic pollution in the oceans on marine species, biodiversity and ecosystems

A new report commissioned by WWF provides the most comprehensive account to date of the extent to which plastic pollution is affecting the global ocean, the impacts it’s having on marine species and ecosystems, and how these trends are likely to develop in future. The report by researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) reveals a serious and rapidly worsening situation that demands immediate and concerted international action: ● Today almost every species group in the ocean has encountered plastic pollution, with scientists observing negative effects in almost 90% of assessed species. ● Not only has plastic pollution entered the marine food web, it is significantly affecting the productivity of some of the world’s most important marine ecosystems like coral reefs and mangroves. ● Several key global regions – including the Mediterranean, the East China and Yellow Seas and Arctic sea ice – have already exceeded plastic pollution thresholds beyond which significant ecological risks can occur, and several more regions are expected to follow suit in the coming years. ● If all plastic pollution inputs stopped today, marine microplastic levels would still more than double by 2050 – and some scenarios project a 50-fold increase by 2100

White and wonderful? Microplastics prevail in snow from the Alps to the Arctic

Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous, and considerable quantities prevail even in the Arctic; however, there are large knowledge gaps regarding pathways to the North. To assess whether atmospheric transport plays a role, we analyzed snow samples from ice floes in Fram Strait. For comparison, we investigated snow samples from remote (Swiss Alps) and populated (Bremen, Bavaria) European sites. MPs were identified by Fourier transform infrared imaging in 20 of 21 samples. The MP concentration of Arctic snow was significantly lower (0 to 14.4 × 103 N liter−1) than European snow (0.19 × 103 to 154 × 103 N liter−1) but still substantial. Polymer composition varied strongly, but varnish, rubber, polyethylene, and polyamide dominated overall. Most particles were in the smallest size range indicating large numbers of particles below the detection limit of 11 μm. Our data highlight that atmospheric transport and deposition can be notable pathways for MPs meriting more research

Plastic ingestion by juvenile polar cod (Boreogadus saida) in the Arctic Ocean

One of the recently recognised stressors in Arctic ecosystems concerns plastic litter. In this study, juvenile polar cod (Boreogadus saida) were investigated for the presence of plastics in their stomachs. Polar cod is considered a key species in the Arctic ecosystem. The fish were collected both directly from underneath the sea ice in the Eurasian Basin and in open waters around Svalbard. We analysed the stomachs of 72 individuals under a stereo microscope. Two stomachs contained non-fibrous microplastic particles. According to µFTIR analysis, the particles consisted of epoxy resin and a mix of Kaolin with polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). Fibrous objects were excluded from this analysis to avoid bias due to contamination with airborne micro-fibres. A systematic investigation of the risk for secondary micro-fibre contamination during analytical procedures showed that precautionary measures in all procedural steps are critical. Based on the two non-fibrous objects found in polar cod stomachs, our results show that ingestion of microplastic particles by this ecologically important fish species is possible. With increasing human activity, plastic ingestion may act as an increasing stressor on polar cod in combination with ocean warming and sea-ice decline in peripheral regions of the Arctic Ocean. To fully assess the significance of this stressor and its spatial and temporal variability, future studies must apply a rigorous approach to avoid secondary pollution

LTER HAUSGARTEN 2018 - Long-Term Ecological Research in the Fram Strait, Cruise No. MSM77, September 15 - October 13, 2018, Longyearbyen (Svalbard) - Edinburgh (Scotland)

The 77th cruise of the RV MARIA S. MERIAN contributed to various large national and international research and infrastructure projects (FRAM, ARCHES, INTAROS, ICOS, SIOS) as well as to the research programme PACES-II (Polar Regions and Coasts in the changing Earth System) of the Alfred-Wegener-Institute Helmholtz-Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). Investigations within Work Package 4 (Arctic sea ice and its interaction with ocean and ecosystems) of the PACES-II programme, aim at assessing and quantifying ecosystem changes from surface waters to the deep ocean in response to the retreating sea ice, and at exploring the most important (feedback) processes determining temporal and spatial variability. Contributions to the PACES-II Work Package 6 (Large scale variability and change in polar benthic biota and ecosystem functions) include the identification of spatial patterns and temporal trends in relevant benthic community functions, and the development of a comprehensive science community reference collection of observational data. Work carried out within WPs 4 and 6 will support the time-series studies at the LTER (Long-Term Ecological Research) observatory HAUSGARTEN (Fig. 1.1), where we document Global Change induced environmental variations on a polar deep-water ecosystem. This work is carried out in close co-operation between the HGF-MPG Joint Research Group on Deep-Sea Ecology and Technology and the PEBCAO Group (Phytoplankton Ecology and Biogeochemistry in the Changing Arctic Ocean) at AWI as well as the working group Microbial Geochemistry at the GEOMAR and the HGF Young Investigators Group SEAPUMP (Seasonal and regional food web interactions with the biological pump)