title: Beach debris on Aruba, Southern Caribbean: Attribution to local land-based and distal marine-based sources.
abstract: Accumulation of marine (plastic) debris from local land-based and distal marine-based sources along coastlines is a pressing modern issue. Hitherto, assessing the relative contribution of pollution sources through beach surveys is methodologically challenging. We surveyed ten beaches along the leeward and windward coastlines of Aruba (southern Caribbean) to determine differences in macro- and meso-debris densities. Differences were quantified using three metrics: 1) the gradient in macro-debris density away from the waterfront; 2) the proportion of plastic within macro-debris; 3) the meso-:macro-debris ratio. Overall 42,585 macro-debris items and 884 meso-debris items were collected. The density of near-shore macro-debris, proportion of plastic debris herein, and meso-:macro-debris ratio were highest on the windward coastline. These results suggest that southern Caribbean windward coastlines are mainly exposed to debris originating from distal marine-based sources, and leeward coastlines to local land-based sources. Our metrics clearly reflect these differences, providing novel means to survey debris source origin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science, Copernicus Institute, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, P.O. Box 65, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Science, University College Utrecht, P.O. Box 80145, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tobia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: de Scisciolo
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Law, University of Aruba, J.E. Irausquinplein 4, P.O. Box 5, Oranjestad, Aruba.
authors.forename: Eric N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Mijts
authors.affiliation: Future = Now Environmental Consultancy, Spaans Lagoenweg 69, Pos Chiquito, Aruba.
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science, Copernicus Institute, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, P.O. Box 65, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Science, University College Utrecht, P.O. Box 80145, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Maarten B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Eppinga
mesh_terms: D001493:Bathing Beaches; D017691:Caribbean Region; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D009426:Netherlands; D010969:Plastics; D014866:Waste Products
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics; D014866:Waste Products
keywords: Beach survey metrics; Coastal pollution; Macro-debris; Marine debris sources; Meso-debris; Plastic debris