The Beachcomber’s Guide to Marine Debris

We are used to being surrounded by trash and may even have heard of the garbage piles left by Himalayan expeditions or of space debris. But we are personally irked when confronted with the stuff while on vacation on the shores and waterways we somehow perceive as being pristine. You may call it trash, rubbish, litter, garbage, refuse, junk, or flotsam and jetsam, but specialists refer to it as marine debris or beach litter. Beyond the esthetics, it poses a serious threat to wildlife, a menace to fisheries and boating, a health hazard to humans, a scourge for sustainable tourism, and an economic threat to coastal communities. Fortunately, this is one type of pollution that we as individuals can actually do something about. Learn the 6 “R”s and the important “U” (upscaling), and become part of the solution both as a consumer and as a guest on the beach. The first step is recognizing beaches as living environments worthy of protection. Become a beach detective, and learn to identify and understand glass, plastic, metal, wood, paper, and oil, along with other products and materials in their unending variations, combinations, and unsavory states of decomposition. Then get into action, have a little fun in the process, and be part of the solution in helping to preserve this wonderful barefoot environment.

Bottles, jars, light bulbs, ashtrays, and the occasional windowpane (glass objects and their fragments) are ubiquitous along waterways, riverbanks, and beaches and regularly make the “top 10” list of items collected during annual beach cleanups. They are a painfully obvious form of marine debris (especially when crunched underfoot). Floating bottles encrusted with living organisms also pose an environmental hazard by introducing “alien” species to faraway habitats. And because glass doesn’t rust or otherwise decompose in the water or sunlight, it can remain intact for centuries on the seafloor, be buried in the sand, or be nestled in the dunes. Distinctive shapes and designs help beach detectives quickly identify most glass products. Almost all the Rs (rethink, refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle) apply to glass bottles, as does upcycling – check out the Internet for untold uses of bottles and glass fragments (sea glass, “mermaids’ tears”). Of course, you might be lucky and discover a valuable glass fishing buoy or a message-in-a-bottle!

Yes, marine debris includes metal. It can float (think tires and their rims) and the items left on the beach range from beer cans to refrigerators. Even a Harley-Davidson motorcycle recently drifted from Japan to Canada. The largest items? Shipwrecks and stranded boats. The worst metal item highlighted in this chapter: tank mines. Of course, if you are lucky you might bag a few of the “Big 10” desirable items such as coins, watches, or jewelry. If you are lucky, you might even uncover gold doubloons from an ancient wreck (you don’t think all those folks scanning the beaches with metal detectors are completely crazy, do you?). You’ll be fairly surprised at the number of “automotive” items that make up marine debris. Where do they come from? Tires, for example, from misguided artificial reef constructions or cheap boat fenders. Partially buried tires, oil barrels, and the like put beach cleanup volunteers to the ultimate test.

It is simply synonymous with marine debris (which turns out to be a narrow view if you select this guide as your summer beach read). Every feature that makes plastic all-purpose and ubiquitous in daily life also makes it the hardiest and most pervasive marine debris. Whether it be the tiny resin pellets that form the starting material for the plastic industry or lost ghost nets weighing tons, plastic wreaks havoc in the world’s oceans. The code words for researchers are ingestion, entanglement, smothering, leaching of additives, adsorption of pollutants, and rafting of alien species. If three strikes means you’re out, then it should be “game over” for plastic. You can play a role by practicing the 6 “R”s and the one “U” (upscaling!) and by joining a beach cleanup. Help remove the “top 10” list of most dangerous marine debris items: bags, balloons, crab/lobster/fish traps, fishing line, fishing nets, plastic sheeting, rope, six-pack holders, strapping bands, and syringes. After all, this is one type of pollution that you and I can actually do something about.

What a wonderful material. It keeps your hands from being scalded by your coffee-to-go and your brain intact inside your helmet. And it floats so well that it is often the main ingredient in objects that folks throw into the water on purpose (fishing buoys, life savers). Whether it be packing material, fishing net buoys, or takeout food packaging, this is pretty much the best floating marine debris there is. Styrofoam is a “top 10” item collected in international beach cleanups. It eventually breaks down into an avalanche of white beadlets, making it a tailor-made microplastic generator. It can leach pollutants out into the water and releases toxic fumes when burned. Bans are being spoken, and alternatives are available: a cardboard “clamshell” for your takeout cheeseburger or “packing peanuts” made of popcorn instead of expanded polystyrene loose fill?

As social mammals, we need to do a lot to keep ourselves presentable. This requires tons of products, many of which somehow find their way onto beaches. It starts off with the toddlers (diapers) and doesn’t get any more hygienic with age (tampon applicators and condoms). Not to mention the ubiquitous combs and toothbrushes. And let’s not forget entire toilets along with their sundry fittings, brushes, brush holders, toilet bowl cleansers and disinfectants, toilet bowl tabs and their holders, and plungers when things go wrong. We don’t need to get into the toilet paper discussion, or do we?

When marine debris gets really ugly and hazardous, we’ve gotten to medical wastes. Are sick people medicating themselves on the beach? Is the beach being used by drug addicts? Is the municipal waste treatment system down for repair? Has some company dumped medical or research lab waste into the sea? Unfortunately, any and all these scenarios can be true, sometimes simultaneously. Syringes are perhaps the most common item in this category. If you see one piece of medical waste, the “law of marine debris aggregation” means you’re likely to find more close by. This is the debris that prompts expensive beach closures, and this chapter urges you to keep your eyes open (any maybe your shoes on).

You’d think that one of the reasons folks go to the beach is to “get out of the house.” If that’s true, then it’s a bit of a mystery why we take (and leave) so much furniture there. It seems as if we try to put as much material between us and the sand as possible, not to mention bringing a table and roof over our heads (beach umbrellas), mini-fridges (cool boxes), and kitchens (grill). Most of these items are cheap, foldable, spindly, and fragile. Instant marine debris. And you could probably almost recreate your home environment from the many other electric and electronic appliances left on or swept up onto shore. Ever wonder where all the cellphones, computers, and TVs you so often replace end up? You may well get to see them again on your next beach vacation!

It’s simple anatomy and mathematics: there will always be more clothing items than people on beaches especially since beach visits mean taking most of it off. Wind, digestive accidents, surf, offshore industries – there are many reasons why apparel is left or lands on our shores. Whether it be clothing, footwear, hats, or gloves, each item can tell a story to attentive beachcombers, and this chapter provides the crucial tips and interpretations. And don’t forget, most apparel these days is plastic, or let’s be friendly and say made of synthetic fibers, to fulfill the functional demands of discerning, modern consumers. This makes it durable marine debris and, ultimately, microplastic.

Lying in the sun all day is downright deadly says the dermatologist. Reading, eating, and drinking seldom fill out a full vacation. Beating the boredom means getting into action, and this means sports. There are at least 100 different physical activities that are practiced on, in, and under the water, not to mention on the beach, and modern marketing strategies mean that each has its full array of tailored gear and apparel. And, because most folks come back out of the water with fewer pieces of equipment than they originally waded in with, it should come as no surprise that water sports leave behind lots of robust marine debris (i.e., specifically designed to withstand the elements). If you are lucky, you’ll find perfectly intact gear, maybe a nice surfboard, and will have bagged a “Big 10” valuable or desirable item. What a great way to get free stuff and reduce marine debris at the same time!

For millennia, humans have devised equipment to variously trick and ever more efficiently capture sea life. A multi-billion dollar industry. And some folks happily spend their entire vacations and free time trying to catch fish & Co. On the equipment front, however, we always put more into the sea than we retrieve. This makes for untold tons of robust, fishery-related marine debris and millions of kilometers of fishing lines and ropes. Not to mention untold numbers of buoys and floats. You’re bound to encounter something from this category on virtually every visit to the beach. Caution, it can snag you as easily as it can a fish.

Wood is organic and therefore not really a problem, right? Wrong. After all, opium is also organic. Wood is an extremely durable material: compare the damage to cars versus trees when these two meet at speed. Add paint, lamination, glue, nails, and various chemical impregnations, and you have an outright, long-lived marine debris issue. The range extends from pencils to entire wooden boats (broken away from moorings, abandoned at sea, swept off by tsunamis, “lost” for insurance purposes, to name just a few sources). Pallets, made to hold a ton of goods and made by the billons, deserve a special subchapter. They can scour shallow coastal ecosystems and crush coral reefs, but they can also be upscaled in 1001 different shabby-chic ways. The symbols and lettering stamped into the wood reveal which ones you can use and which ones should better be disposed of.

“Organic.” Great if health food is the issue, not necessarily good as marine debris. Even organic items that typically belong to beaches (think snail shells or the occasional jellyfish), if present in excessive amounts, already point to potential human impacts. Food remains are very common on beaches and attract scavengers, which tend to leave behind their own special digestive wastes after doing their “recycling” job. Beaches are the world’s biggest litterbox, and feces of any type are a health hazard. What’s one criterion for removing organic wastes during beach cleanups: if you wouldn’t like to step on it (as soft as it may be), better remove it. Never handle dead, dying, or entangled marine organisms yourself, and, please, please, refrain from taking selfies with any beach wildlife.

Whether measured in liters, gallons, barrels, or tons, oil is ugly, viscous, or even firm, poses a threat to wildlife, is hazardous to human health, and can mar entire land- and seascapes. And we release it into the world’s oceans in the millions of tons every year, with the famed major oil spills playing only a relatively minor role overall. It’s astounding that any beach can stay white. And whose fault is it ultimately? Don’t tell me you drive an electric car or only ride a bicycle? If your beach is oiled and you want to help, take your oldest clothing – you will throw it all away afterward. And do not open oil canisters and the like – they are never empty to the last drop.

It is as contentious a matter as dog poop on the sidewalk, but clearly more lethal. Trillions of cigarettes made each year means trillions of butts somewhere. Each is a miniature toxic bomb (if you don’t believe it, drop one into your aquarium at home, and see what happens). And counter to popular belief, they are made largely of plastic, not paper. Cigarette butts crown the “top 10” list of international beach cleanups each and every year by a very wide margin. People who leave butts on the beach should have their behinds butted. These folks also tend to leave behind the full range of smoking paraphernalia. “Empty” lighters are case in point. Make it a family contest. Who can find more of the most common items along your favorite stretch of beach: lighters, straws, bottle caps, bottles or maybe clothespins, shotgun shells, or other characteristic beach litter? Winner takes all (home!).