PRELIMINARY

COASTWATCH SURVEY

AUTUMN 2016

RESULTS

1st DRAFT

This is a draft of the Coastwatch Resutls 2016 and it is not a complete

version of the Report

We apologize for possible mistakes or omissions

Surveyor Group Contact Names (where form stipulated that name could be published)

29 Killanin Cubs Group

Adam Butler

Adventure Tourism Management,

ITTralee

Aidan Faughey

Aine Walsh

Andrew Cox

Anna Aherne

Anne Laird

Annie Getchell

Anthony Brogan

Anto Dillon

Ardmore Tidy Towns

Ardscoil Ris

Barry Flynn

Ben OShea

Bernie Connolly

Billy Harty

Breda Enright

Brenda Burke

Brenda Murphy

Brendan Allard

Brendan Griffin

Brendan O'Kane

Brian MacSuibhne

Brían MacSuibhne

Carmel Mackey

Cathal Divine

Cathal Diviney

Catherine Seale

Cathleen Ní Chonghaile

Chelsie Shaff

Christine Laughlin

Cian GIll

Ciara Conboy-Fischer

Cilian Roden

Claire Lewis

Clare Murray

Clashmore and Kinsalebeg

Community Council

Cleas

Cobh Tidy Towns

Conor Brownlee

Conor Mc Mahon

Cora Harding

Cordula Maguire

Darragh Oneill

Dave Wall

Declan Collins

Deirdre Ryan

Des Farrell

Diane and

Diane Orr

Dion Deacon

D J Hemming

Donncha O Muirthile

Douglas Taylor

Dublin City Council Biodiversity

Eilís Sheehy

Eimear Manning

Eiméar Savage

Eleanor Carlton

Elizabeth Donnelly

Elizabeth O Brien

Emer Mc Loughlin

Emilie Massard

Eva Hennessy

Foyle Ambassadors

Frank O'Reilly

Frederick Boal

Frieda McGovern

Geoffrey Jones

Geoff Warke

Gerry Moore

Ger Scollard

Gina Kyriazopoulou

Glenarm Wildlife Group

Gráinne Cronin O'Reilly

Harm Deenen

James Rainey

Jayne, Marie, Anto

Jennifer Lynch

Jenny Suddaby

Jill Crosher

Jim Crowley

Jim Hurley

Joe Keatinge

John J

John Johanson

Jonathan Mason

Karen Dowling

Karin Dubsky

Katharine Duff

Kevin Lynch

Kimberly Harris Group

Leiden ODonohhue

Linda O'Dwyer

Love Your Lough

Maggie Gavin

Maire O'Brien

Marcus Duggan Vaughan

Margaret Somers

Marta Brown

Marta Cabello

Martha Keatinge

Matthew Bolland

Michael Gavin

Michael Walsh

Mike McGovern

Mizen Scouts

Moggy Somers

Monika Wojcieszek

Newtown School 6th year

Noirin Burke

NUI Galway

NUIG Geography Society

NUIG MSc Coastal and Marine

Environments

Oisín Gavin

Olivia McCartan

Pat McMahon

Patrick Houlihan

Paula Farrell

Paul and Karin

Paul Dubsky

PCA

Peta Taaffe

Peter Craven

Peter Mellor

Peter Pearson

Polly Dolan

Rasmus Sloth Pedersen

Regina Classen

Richard Torney

Robert Anthony

Rory Keatinge

Roslyn Nicholson

Ruairí Moore

Ruth Ennis

Sabine Springer

Sally Hennessy

Sam

Sara Dominguez

Sarah Gavin

Scoil Ard Ris, CBS , Secondary

School,*

*Transition Year Students

Scoil Chaitlin Naofa

Sea Life Bray

Seal Rescue Ireland

Shay Daly

Siobhan Tanner

Skerries Community College

S.N. na Naomh Uile an Cloigeann

Stack

St Declan's National School

Stephane Merceron

Stephanie Linehan

Tara McMahon

Tempe Pearson

The Brodies

The Maguires

The Robert's family

The Thompson family

The Wendy House

Training Event Cobh

Trinity College Dublin, Zoology

Department

Trish ODonohhue

Victor Fusco

Wild Bunch

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY COASTWATCH AUTUMN SURVEY 2016

Results for the island of Ireland Coastwatch 2016 shore survey are based on shore audits by ~ 2000 volunteers

reporting on nearly 600 survey units (where 1 s.u. is ~ 500m shore length). After removal of inaccessible sites and

duplicates, data from 519 distinct survey units was analysed - 45 sites from NI and 474 from the Republic. This

represents ~ 3.5% of our 7900 km of island of Ireland coast.

Survey Method: Volunteers from all walks of life chose and booked their survey areas online, or through regional

coordinators. They carried out a snapshot audit of their s.u. from hinterland down to low water once between

Sept 18th and Oct. 22nd, completing survey questions and water tests while on the shore. Support materials were

available to download from the Coastwatch website including seashell, seaweed and jellyfish ID aids. Additionally

a Coastwatch pilot micro litter app was introduced in autumn 2016 for download and surveyors were encouraged

to check waste reception facilities if their chosen survey area contained a harbour. Results were returned online

or by post for input, cleaning and analyses. Select results were mapped using GIS and more maps will be added in

coming days. The preliminary results are to be presented for comment together with local case studies on Nov

23rd in Trinity College Dublin and also posted on the Coastwatch website. After further analyses and comments

from surveyors a final edited report is due to be launched in late January. Late result returns may be added to the

final report.

Results are presented in a draft report illustrated with maps and graphics, some comparing findings over several

years.

BIODIVERSITY

The survey form contained general animal questions shared by all Coastwatch countries and more detailed extra

questions for select biota prioritised for Ireland and the UK. In contrast to early surveys, where only litter data

was considered reliable, now with government grant aided support materials and training, the number of

surveyors attempting the extra nature questions has risen to 86% and quality of information when cross checked

for verification is generally high.

Jellyfish were reported on 16% of survey sites. Additionally Portuguese men of war were mentioned as a species

not seen here before in 11 sites. The ‘jellyfish present’ figure is higher than in other years and would be even

higher if several stretches of booked sites were surveyed as planned. Calls from surveyors on several west cork,

Kerry and Galway noted presence of Lion’s mane and Mauve stinger jellyfish and Portuguese man of war

occurrence as reason to post phone and then abandoned surveys, citing serious sting threat and school health

and safety rules.

Other Animal in occurrence rank order:

Birds were the most widespread (78% of su) and numerous animals, with a count of 13 804 live birds. Forty seven

dead birds were also recorded which is a slight increase over the previous year. Most were on the Meath and

Fingal coast.

Shellfish were noted in 77% of shores, with empty shells on 73% of shores and live shellfish on 50%. The

Coastwatch seashell poster for the Dublin area was printed by Dublin city council and made available and also

downloaded by many surveyors and used to add species lists. After alerting surveyors to our special interest in

the unusual blue-rayed limpet which lives only on a few seaweed species, a new blue rayed limpet site was

reported from Dalkey, augmenting another recent record from Sandycove. Prior to that there was no Dublin area

record. Live native oysters Ostrea edulis were found by one school group in Dublin Bay on an old oyster bed

which was thought to contain no live stock. In Carlingford lough more such native oysters were found. Empty shell

halves are still widespread as it once was a common shellfish. Today the range is restricted and sites are under

threat. Surveyor photos and accounts for Carlingford show biodiversity hotspots with not only live native

oysters, but also areas teaming with tunicates, peacock worms, molluscs and seagrass with flocks of shorebirds

feasting on them. On the downside surveyors noted further intensification of bottom mussel bottom

aquaculture activity and associated seafloor damage and litter. This has become a priority issue to address.

Live fish were reported from 14% of survey sites and dead fish were recorded in 3% sites. In extra questions

11% of sites were thought to have juvenile fish or fish nursery function.

There were more large dead marine animals this year than usual. Sad headlines were:

The number of dead seals is higher than last year and live seals down. Seventy two live seals were recorded

dotted around 35 sites and 9 dead ones found in 5 sites; one in Carn Annagh, Co Mayo contained 4 decomposing

dead seals. One large dead seal in Donegal was found totally entangled in ropes.

Seven live cetaceans were spotted over 3 survey sites and 5 dead ones in 5 sites. One of these was ‘smell spotted’

on Shankhill beach. It was a large fin whale which had been swept up with many cuts and buried on the shore

by Dun Laoghaire County council. Other dead animals included one dead Leather-backed turtle in Ferriters Cove,

Co Kerry.

The 2016 survey included 35 sites where Honeycomb worm Sabellaria reefs were observed. This unusually high

number is related to areas surveyed and better ID and search location training for surveyors. While surveyor

photos showed some prime quality honeycomb reef, many photos showed green opportunistic algae overgrowing

the reefs. These are sought to be a likely cause or at least contributing factor to reef deterioration locally. The

large Waterford estuary reef was studied in more detail with publication planned. Biogenic reef is classed as

priority habitat under the EU habitat directive and is vulnerable to trampling, bottom dredging, sediment changes

and eutrophication.

WASTE AND LITTER

Waste and marine litter are an important section of the Coastwatch survey. Surveyors report from large down to

micro level with some items counted, others just recorded as present or absent. Select items are seen as

potential indicators for the new marine law (MSFD) Litter Descriptor.

Tyres were reported on 27% of the coast surveyed and are the most wide spread large litter type. The count of

978 tyres in 85 sites showed some large clusters associated with tyre traps to catch peeler crabs. Given that we

have tyre collection and recycling legislation it is of concern that surveyors find new tyre clusters and - as just

happened in Cork - concerted surveyor attempts to remove them were unsuccessful.

Landfill material are either from historic landfill sites being opened by the sea as in Bray and part of Ringsend

dump Dublin, or more commonly associated with homemade erosion control and/or demolition waste disposal.

The waste category was noted in 1 out of 5 sites. Household furnishings were reported in 13% s.u. which is a

slight reduction, while dumped household refuse in bags or sacks reported from 10 % of surveyed areas, is more

wide spread than in any other survey in the last 5 years. Matrasses were noted by several surveyors as a

particularly awkward item to deal with once dumped and wet.

Drinks containers remained the most widespread litter and were reported from 91.6% of survey sites. As in

previous years plastic drinks bottles (the 8573 distributed over 83.7% of s.u.) topped the drink container litter,

reflecting sales share. Counts tended to be higher on the SE coast. Surveyors also counted 3 996 cans distributed

over 73% of shores. This count is less accurate as can body metal dissolves quickly and grey metal pieces are easy

to overlook. The 1168 glass bottles were distributed over 47.6% of sites. Tetra pack containers remain least

frequent with 37% of sites reporting this litter. A new bottle lid count introduced in 2015 yielded 4507 lids

dispersed over 51.6 % survey sites.

There were one or more plastic shopping bags recorded in 46% of survey units with most in urban areas. The

count of 1118 bags represents an average of 1 bag per 200 meters of shore and is in keeping with the continued

low Irish count attributed to the success of the plastic bag tax.

After plastic bottles and cans, the ‘rope and string’ category was the most widespread litter type (68% of shores),

followed by ‘other plastics’ (60%), bottle lids (52%), glass bottles( 48%), textile and hard plastic containers (both in

47% of su) plastic bags, fishing/angling/aquaculture gear (40%) tetra packs (37%) and polystyrene object/pieces

(37%). Sanitary waste was noted on 15% of su. And tar was least common found on 2% of su.

The biggest contribution to the fishing/angling/aquaculture gear were nets which were reported from 27% of

sites. Aquaculture waste was reported from 13% and angling 12 %, while traps were noted in only 9% of surveyed

sites. The lower trap yield this year was locally linked to the lack of storms to break pots loose.

Other litter of note mentioned most frequently were plastic sheets and wraps, balloons and cotton buds.

Micro litter: Surveyors reported seeing visible lines or patches of micro litter on 22% of shores. A new pilot micro

litter app was designed and use invited. From the 69 results, 59 showed visible micro litter. Of those 59 more

than half (54%) contained plastic filament, with polystyrene beads recorded in 42% and plastic flakes in 30.5%,

glass in 27% and hard plastic pellets in 20%. The pilot app produced with free tools will now be improved

upon, taking into account surveyor feedback. Micro litter reports will then be taken at any time of year, to

improve source knowledge, pick up spills e.g. of raw plastic pellets and identify micro litter hot spots.

A separate Harbour survey was carried out for 25 survey units, covering 12 harbours. These examined both state

of littering and waste reception facilities as required by EC Directive and national legislation.

WATER QUALITY

Sewage: 42% of waters in survey sites were sought to be reliably sewage free and 39% as rarely effected.

Occasional sewage pollution was thought to be present in 13% of sites. In 4% it was considered frequent and 2%

usual. Looking back over the last 5 years, 2015 was the odd one out due to significantly higher urban East

coast site surveys which are still awaiting sewage treatment.

Stream water quality indicators: There were 487 inflows recorded a little less than the typical 1.2/su reflecting

the dry weather which dominated in autumn 2016.

Bad and potentially bad signs: Discolor scum and froth were reported on 7% of inflows (as against 12% last year),

a bad smell was noted for 6%. Dumped waste was recorded in 4% of inflows and visual signs of sewage or

sewage fungus in 2%. Dead fish were seen in 3 sites (0.6%) and there were 2 cases of oil in inflows reported.

Good Signs: Animal life was reported from 7% and live fish in 4% of inflows.

Nitrate tests were carried out on 177 of the inflows. In 53% of inflows the nitrate levels were classed as

unpolluted at time of survey as test strips did not change colour and in 21% there was only enrichment between

10 and 25mg/l. However 17% were over 25mg/l -NO3 and 8 % breached the legal Nitrate 50mg/l NO3 limit,

with one record of 100mg/l or more. Bearing in mind that first detection by Merck field test method is 10 mg/l

-NO3 and only ‘available’ nitrates are detected, not nutrients already taken up by plants or other biota.

This result is much better than nutrient results in the last few years. As we have not yet mapped locations

several factors may have combined to influence these results - a shift to low nutrient west coast surveys and the

fine weather which in the past brought lower nutrient readings due to lack of storm water overflows and yard

washings.

Apart from nutrients measured in inflows, green algae were checked and reported in question C. Green algae

biomass is used as an official indicator of nutrient status of the receiving environment in bays and estuaries

suitable for their growth.

Coastwatchers reported green algae patches and thin lines washed up just over half of the survey units (52 %) in

keeping with previous few years, while large algal mats were recorded in 18.3% of shores, suggesting nutrient

enrichment. Results need to be mapped to be better interpreted. Surveyors also noted extensive Ectocarpus

carpets in Dublin Bay. This brown seaweed has a similar niche to the green Ulva seaweeds – fast growing fuelled

by high nutrient levels, sunshine and warmth and breaking down to a mush carpet which covers the intertidal and

may emit dangerous gases.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND SURVEYOR CONCERNS

Shore cleaning in the week before the survey was sought to have taken place on 7% shores, while more surveyors

indicated that summer clean ups had been organised. Shore cleaning ‘in the last week’ has increased steadily

from 1-2% in the 1990s, to 4% in 2012, up to 10% in 2015 where Dublin area surveys dominated. In areas like

Ballymoney, Co. Wexford where daily cleaning started this summer the result shows a significant reduction in

volume of beach litter recorded.

Surveyors who reported threats to the shore mentioned erosion most frequently. The threat of erosion was

reported in 152 sites (29.1% of su) Hard erosion control measures were noticed in 223 sites.

For the first time recreational abuse ranked second (12.4% of su), pushing water pollution into third place

(9%). Flooding was considered a threat in 6.2% of shores. A mix of other threats included sea weed

harvesting, aquaculture, planning issues and invasive alien species were recorded. The threat of construction

in the coastal zone is still well down from peak Celtic tiger days.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Draft Report Nov 22nd 2016 for final edit and publication January 2017

Further Information Coastwatch: Karin Dubsky Coordinator Mob 086 8111 684 email

survey@coastwatch.org, and Angel Duarte Ángel Duarte Campos

angel88dc@gmail.com

NI queries Dave Wall Ulster Wildlife Mob: 07739 700793

The autumn 2016 survey undertaken by Coastwatch volunteers around the island of Ireland finished on Oct 22nd.

A month later, over 500 coastal site audits have been inputted and analysed to present preliminary marine litter,

biodiversity and water quality findings. After surveyor feedback, cross checks and adding of some late survey

forms, the final report will be published in early 2017. While extra information and some adjustments are to be

expected in January, this November event provides an opportunity to flag key findings for use in current marine

policy and law discussions, for surveyors to give feedback and to plan follow up action.

Coastwatch wishes to acknowledge the huge effort of regional coordinators, core team volunteers and especially

the surveyors who again reported on the shores they zigzagged at low tide. Thank you to Trinity College Dublin

for their support and hosting the first draft discussion. Our special gratitude to the Department of the

Environment Water Section who grant aided core survey costs and enabled us to hold training sessions which

continues to improve local biodiversity and water quality knowledge and survey data.

Coast Surveyed in 2016

Number of survey units

Total: 519 survey units Northern Ireland: 45 survey units Rep. of Ireland: 474 survey units

Duplicates: 18 survey units

Percentage of coast covered

3,5% of the coast of the island of Ireland was covered in 2016

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Sligo

Derry/Londonderry

Donegal

Antrim

Galway City

Wicklow

Louth

Meath

Galway County

Dublin City

Mayo

Down

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown

Waterford

Kerry

Cork

Wexford

Fingal

No of survey units

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

DonegalSligo

MayoGalway County

Derry/LondonderryAntrim

CorkKerry

Galway CityDownLouth

WaterfordWicklowWexford

Dublin CityFingal

Dun Laoghaire RathdownMeath

% of coastline covered

Other backbround information

Date of the surveys

How well do you know this site?

Is there direct acceess to your coastal unit directly from land?

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

14

-sep.

16

-sep.

18

-sep.

20

-sep.

22

-sep.

24

-sep.

26

-sep.

28

-sep.

30

-sep.

2-o

ct.

4-o

ct.

6-o

ct.

8-o

ct.

10

-oct.

12

-oct.

14

-oct.

16

-oct.

18

-oct.

20

-oct.

22

-oct.

24

-oct.

26

-oct.

28

-oct.

30

-oct.

Here on 1st or 2nd visit 16%

A little 22%

Well 62%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Prohibited

By wheelchair

Difficult / impossible

By vehicle

By foot

% of survey units

Land and inflows

What is the hinterland mainly devoted to?

Inflows

A total of 487 inflows recorded

0 10 20 30 40 50

Construction site

Waste tip/dump

Industry, commercial area

Wetland (bog, marsh, lagoon)

Tourist resort

Park, woodland, forest

Farmland: Tillage, horticulture

Rock or other bare natural sediment

Farmland: Intensive grazing

Other hinterland

Dunes

Farmland: Rough grazing

Village or town residential

Transport

% of survey units

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Drain

River

Seepage

Pipe

% of inflows

Large Medium Small Unspecified

Quality indicators of inflows

Nitrates

177 inflows tested for nitrate/nitrite

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Oil, petrol, diesel

Dead fish

IAS

Visible sewage, sewage fungus

Live fish

Dumped waste

Bad smell

Animal life

Discolour/scum/froth

% of inflows

Drain Pipe River Seepage

0 5 10 15 20 25

Belowdetection

10

25

50

100

% of inflows

mg/

l NO

3

Drain

Pipe

River

Seepage

Below detection 53%

10 mg/l 21%

25 mg/l 17%

50 mg/l 8%

100 mg/l 1%

Nitrate levels since 2012

Frequency of sewage pollution incidents

Data series since 2012

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Below detection 10 mg/l 25 mg/l 50 mg/l 100 mg/l

Never 42%

Rare 39%

Occasional 13%

Frequent 4%

Usual 2%

Seasonal 0%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Never Rare Occasional Frequent Usual Seasonal

Splash zone

Width of the splash zone

What is your splash zone covered in?

Intertidal

Width of the intertidal

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

>250m

50 to 250m

0 to 1m

5 to 50m

1 to 5m

% of survey units

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Reed bed

Saltmarsh

Building, construction

Soft erosion control

Other plant habitat

Cliff

Dune

Natural rock/boulder

Hard erosion control

Sand, gravel, stones

% of survey units

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

<5m

>250m

50 to 250m

5 to 50m

% of survey units

What is the intertidal surface composed of?

Plants and animal in the intertidal

Seagrass Zostera

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Other

Solid rock

Silt or mud

Boulders

Gravel

Sand

% of survey units

0 20 40 60 80

Zostera

Glasswort Salicornia

Cordgrass Spartina

Other plants seeweds

Green seaweed: carpet cover / thick mats

Green seaweed: in patches or thin band

Brown or red seaweeds

Dislodged decaying seaweeds

% of survey units

Growing; 27

Swept up; 18

Growing and Swept up; 11

Animals

Animals counted

0,00

0,19

0,58

0,77

0,96

0,96

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Seabirds with oil - dead

Seabirds with oil - alive

Cetaceans - alive

Rats - dead

Cetaceans - dead

Seals - dead

Rats - alive

Sea urchins - alive

Fish - dead

Starfish - dead

Starfish - alive

Sea urchins - dead

Seals - alive

Seabirds - dead

Fish - alive

Jellyfish

Sea anemone

Crabs - alive

Barnacles - dead

Molluscs - alive

Barnacles - alive

Worms or worm casts

Crabs - dead

Molluscs/seashells - dead

Seabirds - alive

% of survey sites

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Seabirds with oil - dead

Seabirds with oil - alive

Rats - dead

Cetaceans - dead

Cetaceans - alive

Seals - dead

Rats - alive

Seabirds - dead

Seals - alive

Seabirds - alive

Number of individuals

13804

Worms (Extra Questions)

Molluscs

Litter

Large litter

981 tyres counted

0

10

20

30

40

50

Lug worm casts Sand mason Honeycomb Sabellaria

% o

f su

rvey

un

its

0,00 10,00 20,00 30,00 40,00 50,00 60,00 70,00

Slipper Limpet

Shellfish eggs

Gigas oyster

Native oyster

Dogwhelk

Razor shell

Cockle

Limpet

Mussels

Alive Alive, Dead Dead

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Ship wreck, or parts of ship wreckage

Aquaculture gear

Abandoned Vehicles, Griders, Machines

Dumped household refuse in bags or piles

Household furnishings

Landfill Materials

Tyres

% of survey units

Large litter items since 2012

Litter counts

Total litter counts

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Ship wreck

Aquaculture gear

*Abandoned Vehicles, Griders, Machines

Dumped household refuse

Household furnishings

Landfill Materials

Tyres

% of surey units

2016 2015 2014 2013 2012

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

Plastic bottles Bottle lid Metal cans Glass bottles Plastic bags Paper Tetrapack Lighters

Distribution of counted litter items

Counted litter items since 2012

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Lighters

Paper Tetrapack

Plastic bags

Glass bottles

Bottle lid

Metal cans

Plastic bottles

% of survey units

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Can holders

Lighters

Tetrapacks/paper

Plastic bags

Glass bottles

Bottle lid

Metal cans

Plastic bottles

% of survey units

2016 2015 2014 2013 2012

Plastic bottles over the years (average per 500m)

Other small litter

16

12

25 28

34 36

31

35 36 35 36 35

42

50

53

38

32

51

35

26

30

14

19 18

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

19

91

19

92

19

93

19

94

19

95

19

96

19

97

19

98

19

99

20

00

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

20

12

20

13

20

14

20

15

20

16

Ave

rage

no

of

pla

stic

bo

ttle

s p

er 5

00

m

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Tar, oil, petrol

Medical waste, syringes, plasters

Food, fish waste and bones

Containers of hazardous (not medical)

Glass (not drinks), including light bulbs

Sanitary waste, condoms, nappies

Faeces - mammal

Cans (not drinks), including sprays

Ohter_small_litter

Paper, cardboard and worked wood

Foamed polystyrene

Fishing or aquaculture gear

Hard plastic containers

Textiles, shoes, gloves and clothing

Other plastics

Rope and String

% of survey units

Other small litter since 2012

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Packing straps

Tar, oil, petrol

Medical Waste

Food, fish waste and bones

Containers of hazardous (not medical)

Glass (not drinks), including light bulbs

Sanitary waste, condoms, nappies...

Faeces - mammal

Cans (not drinks), including sprays

Other

Paper, cardboard and worked wood

Foamed Polystyrene (*polyurethane)

*Fishing or aquaculture gear

Textiles, shoes, gloves and clothing

Hard Plastic containers

Other plastics

Rope and string

% of survey units

2016 2015 2014 2013 2012

Fishing litter

Has recent weather changed the appearance of your survey unit?

Has the shore been cleaned within the last week?

Angling gear 20%

Aquaculture gear 21% Nets

45%

Traps 14%

21%

63%

10% 6%

Don't know No, recent weather is insignificant Yes, looks cleaner than usual Yes, looks worse than usual

Don't know 33%

No 59%

Yes 8%

Microlitter app

The microlitter app was used in 69 locations. Of these 59 (90%) found micro-litterr

Types of microlitter

Where did you find microlitter?

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Plasticfilaments

Polystyrene Plastic sheets Plastic pellots Glass Other Metal

No

of

site

s

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

On land in harbour

On water

Live Seaweed

Other

Washed up or harvested seaweeds

Recent tide mark

Top of shore (splashzone)

number of sites

Threats perceived by surveyors

Threats since 2012

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Mining/quarrying

Construction/sealing

Aquaculture

IAS (Invasive Alien Species)

Loss of Biodiversity

Dumping, tipping, infill

Flooding

Water pollution

Recreational abuse

Erosion

% of survey units

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Mining/quarrying

Construction/sealing

Aquaculture

IAS (Invasive Alien Species)

Loss of Biodiversity

Dumping, tipping, infill

Flooding

Water pollution

Recreational abuse

Erosion

% of survey units

2016 2015 2014 2013 2012