Annual Report of National Park Marine Debris Monitoring Program: 1989 Marine Debris Survey
Cole CA, Kumer JP, Manski DA, Richards DV. 1990. Annual Report of National Park Marine Debris Monitoring Program: 1989 Marine Debris Survey. Technical Report: Annual Report of National Park Marine Debris Monitoring Program. Technical Report NPS/NRWV/NRTR-90/04. National Park Service. Washington, DC
Report on the first year of a five-year study monitoring beach debris at eight National Park beach survey sites, selected to represent the northern and southern segments of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the central and western segments of the Gulf Coast. Types of debris, abundance of plastic and nonplastic debris, seasonal accumulations, and quality of debris at each site is discussed in this report. Results for Cape Cod National Seashore (p. 31): Four quarterly marine debris surveys were done at five 1-km beach surveys during 1988-1989. A total of 27,253 items were collected, of which 85% were plastics. Almost 27% of plastics were associated with the fishing industry. Plastic objects that could be consumed by marine animals were almost 17 times more abundant than plastics that were entanglement hazards. Rope was the most common entanglement debris. Wood was the most abundant nonplastic debris. Storms greatly increased the quantity of plastic washed onshore.