OMA - Observatório do Mar dos Açores, Fábrica da Baleia de Porto Pim, Monte da Guia, 9900 Horta, Faial, Portugal.
MFRC - Marine and Freshwater Research Centre, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), Dublin Road, Galway, Ireland; IMAR - Instituto do Mar, Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas, Universidade dos Açores, 9901-862 Horta, Portugal.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2018 Aug;133:304-311. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.05.038. Epub 2018 Jun 19.
Marine litter has been identified as one of the major environmental problems that oceans are currently facing. Worldwide efforts are being made to reduce the input of litter into the oceans, and projects aimed at monitoring their quantities are key to evaluate their success. This study, provide baseline information on the quantities of marine litter found on 42 beaches spread throughout the nine islands of the Azores archipelago, North Atlantic Ocean. A total of 31,439 items were collected throughout the archipelago with an average density of 0.62 ± 0.15 macro-litter items m. Of this litter 87% were plastic and its majority (67%) plastic fragments. Six beaches were further monitored every three months for two years. Substrate type and wind exposure were important factors for explaining patterns of litter deposition. Our results highlight that marine litter have the tendency to accumulate in remote islands of the North Atlantic Ocean.
海洋垃圾已被确认为海洋目前面临的主要环境问题之一。全世界正在努力减少垃圾输入海洋的数量，而旨在监测其数量的项目是评估其成功的关键。本研究提供了有关在北大西洋亚速尔群岛 9 个岛屿上的 42 个海滩上发现的海洋垃圾数量的基线信息。在整个群岛共收集了 31439 件物品，平均密度为 0.62±0.15 个/平方米的大型垃圾。其中 87%是塑料，大部分（67%）是塑料碎片。有 6 个海滩进一步每三个月监测两年。基底类型和迎风暴露是解释垃圾沉积模式的重要因素。我们的结果表明，海洋垃圾有在北大西洋偏远岛屿上积累的趋势。
