Abstract:
Beached marine debris has been monitored on Signy Island since 1991. Data collection was carried out during summer months across three sites on the island: Foca Cove, Cummings Cove and Starfish Cove. This dataset summarises the amount of beached debris from monthly surveys by mass and type, with additional descriptions available. This monitoring contributes to the CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) Marine debris program and is part of the long-term monitoring carried out by the British Antarctic Survey at Signy Island.
Ecosystems component of BAS Polar Science for Planet Earth Programme, funded by NERC.
Keywords:
Beach debris, Marine debris, Signy Island, South Orkney Islands
Waluda, C., & Dunn, M. (2023). Beached marine debris from Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica, from 1991 to 2019. (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/ee9ce4f4-cad6-4c2e-bc06-4757dc87f7e4
| Access Constraints: | There are no access constraints on this dataset. |
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| Use Constraints: | This data is governed by the NERC data policy http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/sites/data/policy/ and supplied under Open Government Licence v.3 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ |
| Creation Date: | 2023-05-17 |
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| Dataset Progress: | Planned |
| Dataset Language: | English |
| ISO Topic Categories: |
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| Parameters: |
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| Personnel: | |
| Name | UK Polar Data Centre |
| Role(s) | Metadata Author |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Name | Dr Claire M Waluda |
| Role(s) | Technical Contact, Investigator |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Name | Dr Michael J Dunn |
| Role(s) | Investigator, Technical Contact |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Parent Dataset: | N/A |
| Reference: | Claire M. Waluda, Iain J. Staniland, Michael J. Dunn, Sally E. Thorpe, Emily Grilly, Mari Whitelaw, Kevin A. Hughes, Thirty years of marine debris in the Southern Ocean: Annual surveys of two island shores in the Scotia Sea, Environment International, Volume 136,2020,105460,ISSN 0160-4120, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.105460. Associated publication: Waluda, C. M., Staniland, I. J., Dunn, M. J., Thorpe, S. E., Grilly, E., Whitelaw, M., & Hughes, K. A. (2020). Thirty years of marine debris in the Southern Ocean: annual surveys of two island shores in the Scotia Sea. Environment international, 136, 105460. |
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| Quality: | Instances when no debris was found, or surveys weren't possible (e.g. due to sea ice cover restricting access to beaches) are recorded in the metadata. Since 1996, the station at Signy Island has been closed over the austral winter. |
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| Lineage: | Data collection comprised surveying three beaches at Signy Island: Cummings Cove (beach length = 395 m), Starfish Cove (beach length = 584 m) and Foca Cove (beach length = 331 m). Data collection at Foca Cove and Starfish Cove started in 1991 and from 1994 onwards was expanded to include Cummings Cove. Surveys were carried out at each location once per month during the austral summer period, i.e. up to six times (between November and April) per season. All surveys were undertaken following CCAMLR protocols for surveys of beached marine debris. Each survey took place on a single tide and, where possible, was carried out at low water. During the survey all debris items of more than 5 mm in largest dimension found between the low water mark and approximately 10 m beyond the high water mark were collected. Mass was recorded for all years. Small items were weighed to a precision of 0.1 g and heavier items (> 100 g) to the nearest gramme. All items were categorised as fabric, glass, metal, paper, rubber, wood or plastic, with plastic items further subdivided into fishery, consumer and miscellaneous items. The sizes were categorised as follows: S (small) < 2.5cm M (medium) 2.5 - 10cm L (large) > 10cm to 1m VL (very large) > 1m |
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| Temporal Coverage: | |
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| Start Date | 1991-01-01 |
| End Date | 2019-11-17 |
| Spatial Coverage: | |
| Latitude | |
| Southernmost | -60.69583 |
| Northernmost | -60.69583 |
| Longitude | |
| Westernmost | -45.64417 |
| Easternmost | -45.64417 |
| Altitude | |
| Min Altitude | N/A |
| Max Altitude | N/A |
| Depth | |
| Min Depth | N/A |
| Max Depth | N/A |
| Latitude | |
| Southernmost | -60.72361 |
| Northernmost | -60.72361 |
| Longitude | |
| Westernmost | -45.66667 |
| Easternmost | -45.66667 |
| Altitude | |
| Min Altitude | N/A |
| Max Altitude | N/A |
| Depth | |
| Min Depth | N/A |
| Max Depth | N/A |
| Latitude | |
| Southernmost | -60.68994 |
| Northernmost | -60.68994 |
| Longitude | |
| Westernmost | -45.5954 |
| Easternmost | -45.5954 |
| Altitude | |
| Min Altitude | N/A |
| Max Altitude | N/A |
| Depth | |
| Min Depth | N/A |
| Max Depth | N/A |
| Latitude | |
| Southernmost | -60.7 |
| Northernmost | -60.7 |
| Longitude | |
| Westernmost | -45.6 |
| Easternmost | -45.6 |
| Altitude | |
| Min Altitude | N/A |
| Max Altitude | N/A |
| Depth | |
| Min Depth | N/A |
| Max Depth | N/A |
| Location: | |
| Location | Antarctica |
| Detailed Location | Signy Island, South Orkney Islands |
| Location | Antarctica |
| Detailed Location | Foca Cove, Signy Island, South Orkney Islands |
| Location | N/A |
| Detailed Location | Cummings Cove, Signy Island, South Orkney Islands |
| Location | Antarctica |
| Detailed Location | Starfish Cove, Signy Island, South Orkney Islands |
| Sensor(s): |
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| Data Collection: | Instruments used include: a balance, tape measure, camera and rubber gloves |
| Data Storage: | 1x .csv |
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