Abstract
Subtropical gyres are the oceanic regions where plastic litter accumulates over long timescales, exposing surrounding oceanic islands to plastic contamination, with potentially severe consequences on marine life. Islands’ exposure to such contaminants, littered over long distances in marine or terrestrial habitats, is due to the ocean currents that can transport plastic over long ranges. Here, this issue is addressed for the Easter Island ecoregion (EIE). High-resolution ocean circulation models are used with a Lagrangian particle-tracking tool to identify the connectivity patterns of the EIE with industrial fishing areas and coastline regions of the Pacific basin. Connectivity patterns for “virtual” particles either floating (such as buoyant macroplastics) or neutrally-buoyant (smaller microplastics) are investigated. We find that the South American shoreline between 20°S and 40°S, and the fishing zone within international waters off Peru (20°S, 80°W) are associated with the highest probability for debris to reach the EIE, with transit times under 2 years. These regions coincide with the most-densely populated coastal region of Chile and the most-intensely fished region in the South Pacific. The findings offer potential for mitigating plastic contamination reaching the EIE through better upstream waste management. Results also highlight the need for international action plans on this important issue.
Highlights
Subtropical gyres are the oceanic regions where plastic litter accumulates over long timescales, exposing surrounding oceanic islands to plastic contamination, with potentially severe consequences on marine life
To assess the exposure to plastic waste pollution transported by the ocean circulation to Easter Island, we identified land and marine hotspots of plastic waste generation using as index coastal population density and industrial fishing pressure (Fig. S1)
Easter Island ecoregion (EIE) is a remote region, our results show that it is strongly connected to distant sources of plastic litter due to the ocean circulation connectivity
Summary
Subtropical gyres are the oceanic regions where plastic litter accumulates over long timescales, exposing surrounding oceanic islands to plastic contamination, with potentially severe consequences on marine life. Islands’ exposure to such contaminants, littered over long distances in marine or terrestrial habitats, is due to the ocean currents that can transport plastic over long ranges. This issue is addressed for the Easter Island ecoregion (EIE). Tackling marine litter pollution in specific regions, such as remote islands — where incoming plastics have travelled long distances — requires an understanding of the origins of these plastics so that effective waste management strategies can be put in place[6]. Plastic marine debris (PMD) characteristics (shape, size, polymer density, etc...) play a key role in how PMD get transported by ocean currents. Plastic debris may originate from marine-based activities that account for an estimated 20–30% of plastic-waste disposed in the oceans[7,18] with commercial fishing being the dominant contributor, and spanning more than half of the global ocean[19]
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