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Benito-Kaesbach A, Suárez-Moncada J, Velastegui A, Moreno-Mendoza J, Vera-Zambrano M, Avendaño U, Ryan PG, Sanz-Lázaro C. Understanding the sources of marine litter in remote islands: The Galapagos islands as a case study. Environ Pollut 2024; 347:123772. [PMID: 38490527 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2024] [Revised: 02/21/2024] [Accepted: 03/10/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024]
Abstract
Determining the sources of marine litter is necessary to mitigate this increasing global problem. Plastic bottles are useful tracers of marine litter and constitute the main item (24%) stranding on remote beaches in the Galapagos Islands. The aim of this study was to estimate the abundance of plastic bottles in remote beaches and inferred their sources. To do so, we collected plastic bottles at 60 remote Galapagos Island beaches from 2018 to 2022. 76% of beaches were qualified as badly polluted, with >34 bottles·100 m-1. Most identified bottles came from Peru (71%), followed by China (17%) and Ecuador (9%). Although most locally-sold products are made in Ecuador, they contribute little to beach litter loads. Polyethylene terephthalate bottles with lid (necessary for litter dispersal) represented 88% of all bottles, demonstrating that most of the litter reaching the Galapagos comes from distant sources, mainly from South America. However, bottle ages indicate that at least 10% of Peruvian, 26% of Ecuadorian, and all Chinese bottles likely were dumped from ships. Reducing marine litter reaching the Galapagos Islands requires tackling litter leakage from land-based sources in South America and better compliance with regulations banning the dumping of plastics and other persistent wastes from ships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alba Benito-Kaesbach
- Department of Ecology, University of Alicante, PO Box 99, E-03080, Alicante, Spain.
| | - Jenifer Suárez-Moncada
- Department of Marine Ecosystems, Galapagos National Park Directorate, Av. Charles Darwin s/n, Puerto Ayora (Santa Cruz), Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
| | - Alfonso Velastegui
- Department of Marine Ecosystems, Galapagos National Park Directorate, Av. Charles Darwin s/n, Puerto Ayora (Santa Cruz), Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
| | - Jerson Moreno-Mendoza
- Conservación Internacional Ecuador, Av. Charles Darwin s/n, Puerto Ayora (Santa Cruz), Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
| | - Mariana Vera-Zambrano
- Conservación Internacional Ecuador, Av. Charles Darwin s/n, Puerto Ayora (Santa Cruz), Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
| | - Ulises Avendaño
- Public Aquaculture and Fisheries Research Institute, Guayaquil, Ecuador
| | - Peter G Ryan
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa
| | - Carlos Sanz-Lázaro
- Department of Ecology, University of Alicante, PO Box 99, E-03080, Alicante, Spain; Multidisciplinary Institute for Environmental Studies (MIES), Universidad de Alicante, P.O. Box 99, E-03080, Alicante, Spain
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