Neustonic Plastic Along the Eastern Seaboard: Evaluating Potential Ecologic Impacts using Zooplankton to Plastic Ratios, and Identification of Regional Source Areas Using OpenDrift Modelling
Date
2022-05-20
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Abstract
Plastic debris has become an issue of ecologic concern, as studies have found that plastic,
which has been accumulating in the marine environment since it became commercialized after
World War II, has negative environmental effects and a wide range of biologic impacts when
ingested. Determining how plastic debris enters the food web is the first step in evaluating the
potential for plastic to magnify throughout the food web, eventually effecting humans. This
study addresses this issue by using methodology established by Moore et al. (2001; 2002) and
Collignon et al. (2012) to determine the ratios (by count and by weight) of neustonic plastic to
zooplankton along the Eastern Seaboard of the US, in the Atlantic Ocean. Samples analyzed in
this study were collected by SEA Education Association class C-297 Marine biodiversity and
Conservation along a cruise track from St. Petersburg, FL to Woods Hole, MA, with varying
distances from shore, between April 16 and May 20, 2021. Neuston tows were performed using a
333 micrometer neuston tow net, and were processed by hand.
To determine the origin of plastic recovered at sea, this study utilizes a novel approach to
the identification of plastic debris source regions by using a Python-coded program (OpenDrift)
to hindcast the neuston tow samples analyzed in this study to identify likely geographic
locations, using oceanographic and atmospheric conditions, and Lagrangian particle trajectory
modelling. This work sets the stage for future conservation work in marine plastics, to mitigate
the exposure of marine organisms and the food web to the negative effects of plastics and their
additives.
Description
Data tables are included as separate CSV and Excel file.
Keywords
plastic, plastic debris, oceanography, marine biology, OpenDrift, zooplankton, SEA Education Association, Atlantic Ocean, Eastern Seaboard, geology, biology, hindcasting, hindcast modelling, food web, biomagnification, bioaccumulation, physical oceanography, biological oceanography, neuston, neustonic plastic