May 26, 2024

Report Details

The goal of this survey was to conduct our first NOAA Marine Debris survey after our CoastWatch training last month. Our survey involved setting up a 100m survey plot and 4 randomly chosen survey transects according to the Marine Debris Monitoring and Assessment Project Protocol. After the survey, our high school student team removed a majority of marine debris from this area. In terms of marine debris observed along this mile, we removed plastic, wood, and rubber. Notable plastic items include a colorless water bottle with a bright magenta cap with a large "S" and Slavda in white writing. An opaque bottle with a bright orange cap and a cartoon on the side with Chinese characters, Hanzi, was from brand Xiaoming tangerine flavor oolong tea. A reverse image Google search suggests that one can buy this product from many places online. Here is what the original packaging looks like: https://www.sayweee.com/en/product/Xiaoming-Tangerine-Flavor-Oolong-Tea/2037429. Below is an image of what the bottle we found looked like with a ruler for scale. Other notable debris items included shotgun shell, film, styrofoam, a tire, alcoholic drink bottles, fishing gear, styrofoam flat float, and a large rusted barrel. Anecdotal observations from today suggest a higher relative abundance of marine- and ocean-based debris in the area of the beach with basalt cobblestones compared to regions with sandy substrate, which is corroborated by recent research on patterns of marine debris deposition on Pacific Northwest beaches outlined by Willis et. al, 2022, in the Marine Pollution Bulletin.