Poster abstracts and manuscripts from the Third International ...

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international pilot in 1988, the survey - run with volunteers
over a two week period each autumn - has yielded > 10,000 site
returns for compiling and analysis every year for five years now.
The paper reviews autumn, 1993 results of over 14,00,0 sites (500
meter shore each) in 19 European countries, with special emphases
on: (i) non- and slow- degradable litter of mainly marine and
port origin (fishing nets, packing straps, polyurethane and
polystyrene); (ii) beverage containers (on average counts per
site or region separating cans, plastic, and paper outer drinks
containers; and, (iii) sewage related waste.
Some comparisons between countries and seas - Baltic, Northwest
Atlantic, Southwest Atlantic, Mediterranean and first limited
Black Sea results - are made. Finally, trends with time are
suggested and these discussed in the context of both economic
parameters and political initiatives such as sales; use, reuse,
waste management, legislation and enforcement, as noted by
national CWE coordinators. Recommendations to reduce marine
litter are presented.
The paper will include overheads and slides. An interactive
computer display programme showing litter data for select
countries down to 500 m survey unit is available.
Gottshall, Ginnie
Balloons
Alliance for a Living Ocean, Bel Air, Maryland, USA
At the Center for Marine Conservation's first annual
International Coastal Cleanup coordinators' meeting in October of
1989, the coordinators were urged to have all volunteers look for
and report marks of identification on the debris they pick up.
This message was especially meaningful to us because, in July
1988, we found on the beach in Beach Haven, New Jersey, a balloon
marked, "Easter at the White House, 1988". We reported this to
CMC who phoned the White House. Since that time, the White House
has not used balloons at outdoor events.
Learning early that reporting identifiable debris to its source,
through CMC and directly, brought results, we began a campaign to
have our volunteers be extra careful about examining debris. We
discovered that very little of the debris that washes up on the
New Jersey shore bears an identification...except for
balloons... one of the debris items most hazardous to marine
animals.
We discovered that the use of imprinted balloons for advertising
and commemorative purposes was on the rise so we composed a
letter to be sent to the individuals and companies whose balloons
we found. This letter, without being too long, details the
dangers balloons pose to marine life in a way to evoke sympathy
for the victimized animals, and it provides some surprising facts
and figures.