North sea Archives - One Earth - One Ocean e. V.

Marine Litter Strategy

guenther — Mon, 29 Dec 2014 22:06:37 +0000

http://www.doeni.gov.uk/index/protect_the_environment/natural_environment/marine_and_coast/marine_policy/marine_litter_strategy.htm

Marine Litter Strategy

Marine litter is a global problem which poses an increasing threat to
human health and safety, ecosystem services and sustainable livelihoods.
The Northern Ireland Marine Litter Strategy is a co-ordinated response
which aims to address the problem at a local level by reducing the
levels of litter entering the sea and removing litter which is already
there. The Strategy contains measures designed to change attitudes and
behaviour towards littering. This will be done through education,
adequate provision of bins, fining offenders and collecting data on the
extent of the problem.

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New report: Monitoring plastics in Northern fulmars

guenther — Mon, 29 Dec 2014 20:55:04 +0000

http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/Expertise-Services/Research-Institutes/imares/News-Calendar/Show/New-report-Monitoring-plastics-in-Northern-fulmars.htm

New report: Monitoring plastics in Northern fulmars

October 6, 2014
By IMARES Wageningen UR

Commissioned by the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and the
Environment, IMARES has published its new monitoring report on
quantities of plastics in stomachs of Northern Fulmars found on Dutch
beaches up to year 2013.

The added two years of data suggest a decrease in quantities of
plastics, but are not significant over the past ten years. Currently,
94% of investigated stomachs of Dutch Fulmars contained one or more
plastic particles, and about 52% contained more than the critical level
of 0.1 gram plastic. North Sea governments have set a policy target
where this percentage is reduced to below 10%.

http://edepot.wur.nl/315514

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Marine litter ensemble transport simulations in the southern North Sea

guenther — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 19:42:24 +0000

Daniel Neumann, Ulrich Callies, Michael Matthies, Marine litter ensemble
transport simulations in the southern North Sea, Marine Pollution
Bulletin, Volume 86, Issues 1?2, 15 September 2014, Pages 219-228, ISSN
0025-326X, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.07.016.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X14004524)
Abstract: The drift of marine litter in the southern North Sea was
simulated with the offline Lagrangian transport model PELETS-2D.
Assuming different source regions, passive tracer particles were
released every 28 h within a nine-year period. Based on pre-calculated
hourly wind and ocean current data, drift simulations were carried out
forward and backward in time with and without the assumption of extra
wind forces influencing particle movement. Due to strong variability of
currents, backward simulations did not allow for the identification of
particular source regions influencing given monitoring sites. Neither
accumulation regions at open sea could be identified by forward
simulations. A seasonal signal, however, could be identified in the
number of tracer particles that reached the coastal areas. Both particle
drift velocity and variability of drift paths further increased when an
extra wind drift was assumed.
Keywords: Marine debris; Lagrangian transport modeling; Wind drift;
Seasonal variation; Source?receptor relationship

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Marine litter ensemble transport simulations in the southern North Sea

guenther — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 19:04:51 +0000

Daniel Neumann, Ulrich Callies, Michael Matthies, Marine litter ensemble
transport simulations in the southern North Sea, Marine Pollution
Bulletin, Available online 11 August 2014, ISSN 0025-326X,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.07.016.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X14004524)
Abstract: The drift of marine litter in the southern North Sea was
simulated with the offline Lagrangian transport model PELETS-2D.
Assuming different source regions, passive tracer particles were
released every 28 h within a nine-year period. Based on pre-calculated
hourly wind and ocean current data, drift simulations were carried out
forward and backward in time with and without the assumption of extra
wind forces influencing particle movement. Due to strong variability of
currents, backward simulations did not allow for the identification of
particular source regions influencing given monitoring sites. Neither
accumulation regions at open sea could be identified by forward
simulations. A seasonal signal, however, could be identified in the
number of tracer particles that reached the coastal areas. Both particle
drift velocity and variability of drift paths further increased when an
extra wind drift was assumed.
Keywords: Marine debris; Lagrangian transport modeling; Wind drift;
Seasonal variation; Source?receptor relationship

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Artificial neural networks for modeling time series of beach litter in the southern North Sea

guenther — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 21:14:38 +0000

Marcus Schulz, Michael Matthies, Artificial neural networks for modeling
time series of beach litter in the southern North Sea, Marine
Environmental Research, Available online 28 March 2014, ISSN 0141-1136,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2014.03.014.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141113614000634)
Abstract: In European marine waters, existing monitoring programs of
beach litter need to be improved concerning litter items used as
indicators of pollution levels, efficiency, and effectiveness. In order
to ease and focus future monitoring of beach litter on few important
litter items, feed-forward neural networks consisting of three layers
were developed to relate single litter items to general categories of
marine litter. The neural networks developed were applied to seven
beaches in the southern North Sea and modeled time series of five
general categories of marine litter, such as litter from fishing,
shipping, and tourism. Results of regression analyses show that general
categories were predicted significantly moderately to well. Measured and
modeled data were in the same order of magnitude, and minima and maxima
overlapped well. Neural networks were found to be eligible tools to
deliver reliable predictions of marine litter with low computational
effort and little input of information.
Keywords: Marine litter; back propagation; neural network; regression
analysis; beach litter category; source category

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Recycled park

guenther — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 20:52:52 +0000

http://recycledpark.com/introduction.html

Recycled park is the proposal to retrieve plastic waste from the river
the Nieuwe Maas just before it reaches the North Sea. The plastics are
recycled to give new value to the river.
The idea is to make floating platforms from the plastics for a new green
environment; a floating park.

Plastic waste is a structural problem in open waters. Via rivers a
subsequent part of plastic litter enters our seas and oceans, where it
becomes part of the plastic soup. The Nieuwe Maas is an important
European river that takes the pollution from the inland to the sea.

The proposal is an initiative of WHIM architecture in collaboration with
the Rotterdam municipality, Wageningen University (WUR) and SK
international. The Rotterdam municipality has the desire to realize more
green areas. Floating green can take an important role in this as a
floating park or green shore. The plastics in the Nieuwe Maas are
relatively fresh and have therefore a good recycling potential.
Wageningen University wants to research the best recycling technique. SK
international has the Plastic Visser (Fisher), a floating platform to
retrieve marine litter from rivers. With this platform we want to
prevent the plastics entering the North Sea through the Nieuwe Maas.

The plastic will be given a new value as floating capacity for green
environments. Floating parks are a plus for the city of Rotterdam, but
will also fulfill an ecological role in the river water. The building
blocks are designed in such a way, that not only can grow nature on top,
but in the water new life will have its sole for existence as well. The
bottom of the platform will have a rough finishing where plants can have
enough surface to grow and fish a place to leave their eggs.

http://vimeo.com/90333594
http://youtu.be/7A7TvMemZ7A
https://www.facebook.com/RecycledPark

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Naphthalene biodegradation in temperate and arctic marine microcosms Biodegradation

guenther — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 16:16:23 +0000

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10532-013-9644-3

Andrea Bagi, Daniela M. Pampanin, Anders Lanzén, Torleiv Bilstad, Roald
Kommedal
Naphthalene biodegradation in temperate and arctic marine microcosms
Biodegradation
February 2014, Volume 25, Issue 1, pp 111-125
DOI 10.1007/s10532-013-9644-3
Abstract: Naphthalene, the smallest polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
(PAH), is found in abundance in crude oil, its major source in marine
environments. PAH removal occurs via biodegradation, a key process
determining their fate in the sea. Adequate estimation of PAH
biodegradation rates is essential for environmental risk assessment and
response planning using numerical models such as the oil spill
contingency and response (OSCAR) model. Using naphthalene as a model
compound, biodegradation rate, temperature response and bacterial
community composition of seawaters from two climatically different areas
(North Sea and Arctic Ocean) were studied and compared. Naphthalene
degradation was followed by measuring oxygen consumption in closed
bottles using the OxiTop® system. Microbial communities of untreated and
naphthalene exposed samples were analysed by polymerase chain reaction
denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR–DGGE) and pyrosequencing.
Three times higher naphthalene degradation rate coefficients were
observed in arctic seawater samples compared to temperate, at all
incubation temperatures. Rate coefficients at in situ temperatures were
however, similar (0.048 day−1 for temperate and 0.068 day−1 for arctic).
Naphthalene biodegradation rates decreased with similar Q10 ratios (3.3
and 3.5) in both seawaters. Using the temperature compensation method
implemented in the OSCAR model, Q10 = 2, biodegradation in arctic
seawater was underestimated when calculated from the measured temperate
k1 value, showing that temperature difference alone could not predict
biodegradation rates adequately. Temperate and arctic untreated seawater
communities were different as revealed by pyrosequencing. Geographic
origin of seawater affected the community composition of exposed samples.
Keywords: Hydrocarbons; Naphthalene; Biodegradation; Q10;
Pyrosequencing; DGGE; Seawater

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