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.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=ZwYIJFqYY21X1M&tbnid=V8eQlLKtLpJabM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.nrdc.org/breastmilk/chems.asp&ei=T4BrU-6gF-Pk8gGHi4Bo&bvm=bv.66330100,d.aWw&psig=AFQjCNEo4HxOIQ0oCGusWkjlxSStCEmOIA&ust=1399640515565250

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?