Poster abstracts and manuscripts from the Third International ...

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set is made, information on the catch. The data recorded for
each object include the date, position, and time of day,
environmental conditions (sea-surface temperature, cloud cover,
water clarity, wind speed and current strength), characteristics
of the object (size, longest dimension, area and volume, shape,
color, type, material, position in the water, estimated time
adrift, coverage by epibiota and percentage submerged). In the
case of parts of trees, the most abundant type of floating
object, additional information is recorded on whether they were
cut and whether roots, branches, bark, and leaves were present;
this helps to define the spatial structure created around the
tree part and to estimate its "age" in the water. In this study,
we analyze a total of 5,498 records of floating objects,
collected during 497 fishing trips made in the period between
1987 and 1991.
The most significant group was plant material (47.8% of all
floating objects), followed by wooden man-made objects (17.5%);
discarded equipment (12.7%); Fish Aggregating Devices or FADS
(7.6%) and non-wooden man-made objects (5.8%). The rest included
kelp, dead animals, unidentified and other objects (8.6%).
Wooden and other biological materials comprised 72.6% of the
objects, while 19.7% were made of non-biological materials. The
origin of over half (57.9%) of the floating objects were man-made
or due to human activities and 42.1% were of natural origin.
Considering the epibiotic coverage and general aspect, the
estimated time adrift of the objects was approximately evenly
distributed (28.5% short, 6.3% medium and 35.2% long).
The spatial distribution of floating objects showed the highest
concentrations in coastal areas, up to 100°W longitude and
between 0° and l0 o N latitude, especially in the Panama Bight. A
"high-density corridor" along the l0 o latitude north seems to be
evident. It's important to note, however, that this spatial
distribution may be biased by the tuna fishing fleet's own
distribution.
Jozwiak, Tomasz
Amount, Types and Distribution of Marine Debris on the Polish
Coast (Europe) in 1992 and 1993
Sopot Ecological Institute, Sopot, Poland
A qualitative and quantitative description of the marine debris
on the Polish coast and ascertaining the influence of weather
conditions on the recreational source of litter has been
recognized. The amount and distribution of marine debris on 55%
of the total Polish coast in a 2-year period (1992 and 1993) was
investigated. The Polish coast was divided into 500 m units.
Data from every recognized unit have been collected in a single