THE GEORGIA SEA TURTLE CENTER MARINE
DEBRIS INITIATIVE
Jeannie Miller Martin Volunteer/AmeriCorps Coordinator
Ben Carswell Director of Conservation
Rachel Walman AmeriCorps Community Engagement Member
Citizen Science and Education in Marine Conservation and Research
PART I: MARINE DEBRIS
Plastikos = moldable
• Animal horn, tortoiseshells
• Leonardo da Vinci’s recipe
• Natural plastics: Gutta Percha Co. est. 1845
• Post-WWI inventions 1940’s mass production
• Shell of the lac, shellac, Laccifer lacca
• 1907 – first synthetic
• Born of fire & mystery: Baekelite, phenol and formaldehyde
Jones, P. 2009. History Magazine. June/July, pp.13-16
Plastic Production:
280 MTPA in 2011 (30 MTPA in 1988), Over 90% increase in about 20 years
Land-based pathways: Rivers, storm drains, wind
Impacts:
Ingestion & entanglement
Altered habitat
Dispersal via rafting
Ecosystem level effects
CBD Technical Series No. 67 2012
ktrmurali.wordpress.com
Oceanic Litter, Marine Debris, Plastic Pollution Mammals, seabirds, turtles, fishes,
invertebrates More than 267 species affected Intestinal blockage Diminished feeding stimulus Endocrine disruption (hormone levels) Reproductive failure
Goldstein and Goodwin 2013
diamondheadtuna.com
stamps.livingat.org
Plastic Predators
• English Channel – survey 10 fish species (100%)
• Mediterranean Sea – 5 Deepwater fishes
• North Pacific - ~20% • North Sea – 5 out of 7
Carson, H. 2013
Fig. 1 Example photographs of plastic items with apparent bite marks. (a) a bleach bottle photographed in situ (b) a flexible tube
fragment (c) a close-up of a fragment exhibiting both marks along the edge and interior chevron-shaped tooth marks (d) a
co...Carson, H.S. 2013.
The incidence of plastic ingestion by fishes: From the prey’s perspective
Survey showed 15.8% (5,518 pieces
examined)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.07.008
Seaplexscience.com
ucdavis.edu
- Consistently between 60% and 80% plastic
- POPs (persistent organic pollutants) - lipophilic
- Sorb PCBs and DDTs - Primarily synthetic organic polymers
derived from petroleum - Exposed to UV, break into smaller
pieces - Degradation is slower in the ocean
than on land
Lynne Hinkey
The Tale of the Short-Tailed Shearwater and the PBDE
http://www.schoensleben.ch/
pubs.rsc.org
Tanaka, K., et. al. 2013. Accumulation of plastic-derived chemicals in tissues of seabirds
ingesting marine plastics. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 69: 219-222.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2012.12.010
Fig. 2 PBDE concentrations and compositions in (A and B) abdominal adipose of
short-tailed shearwaters, (D and E) the plastics in their stomachs, and (C) their
prey. n.d., not detected. *Profile is not shown because only trace concentrations of
one congener (BDE47 or BDE71) were detected; **NNPO: Northern North Pacific
Ocean.
A little closer to home…the story of Mahi.
January 15, 2013
Mahi today: • Thriving! (as much as
an amputee turtle can anyway)
• Hundreds of
adoptive parents
• Patient and staff favorite
• Excellent marine debris ambassador
• Bright future ahead! Planning release!
PART II: CITIZEN SCIENCE
Marine Debris Initiative
• Developed to address the issue of marine debris on Jekyll Island and the Georgia Coast.
• Citizen Science and Education
Marine Debris Tracker App
Volunteers
• Since March 2012:
– 5,800+ hours of debris removal efforts.
– More than 131,000 pieces of debris removed
Marine Debris Analysis
Marine Debris Publications
• First publication using app
• Citizen science data • Classroom efforts
published in 2015
Martin, J.M. 2013. Marine debris removal: One year of effort by the Georgia Sea Turtle-Center-Marine Debris Initiative. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 74(1) 165-169
Mapping Citizen Science Data
• 15 zones based on KM
• “Stoplight” colors to show debris density from 2012-2014
• Debris only from Jekyll’s shoreline
• Potential bias
• Sea turtle activity (nests and false crawls) from 2012-2014
Implications for Volunteers
• Know where to send volunteers to be more impactful during clean-ups
• More meaningful volunteer experience
PART III: EDUCATION
Garbage in the Water • Educational program designed to teach students about
marine debris.
• 3rd grade classrooms in Glynn County, GA over the 2012-2013 school year.
• 100% of classes showed significant test score improvement.
Martin, J.M., Higgins, K., Lee, K., Stearns, K., 2015. Integrating science education and marine conservation through collaborative partnerships. Mar. Pollut. Bull., http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.04.009
Scute’s Ocean Adventure
• Children’s story about a sea turtle’s encounter with marine debris
• Published September 2012
Scute’s Ocean Adventure
• Made into a puppet show and taken to first grade classrooms in Glynn County, GA over the 2013-2014 school year.
MEDASSET Poster and Presentations
• Personal cigarette butt collection devices
– Distributed during holidays and major beach events
• Custom made CLR for Jekyll Island- Installed at Clam Creek
Cigarette Reduction Efforts
Project SORT
Project SORT - Collaborative project with UGA MAREX, SKiO, SEA-MDI, NOAA, TIMSC, Gray’s Reef, and GSTC
Children’s garden
PART III: FUTURE EFFORTS
MDI Long Term Plans
• Continue collaboration with the Ocean Conservancy
• Restructuring Jekyll’s Adopt-a-Beach Program
• Continuing education efforts
Acknowledgements
Thanks to GSTC volunteers, GSTC staff, AmeriCorps, the Jekyll Island Authority, NOAA , Miami University’s Global Field Program and the Southeast Atlantic Marine Debris Initiative for all of the support and contributions to this project.
Questions?