Pollution

Proliferation of seaborne plastics and other jettisoned materials continues to pose an ever-increasing threat to the lives of marine and terrestrial animals and the environment in general.

The well-established and recorded ocean currents around the archipelago mean that substantial amounts of sea-borne rubbish end up in Svalbard waters and upon its shores.

The goal of this project is the examination of several stretches of beach in and around Recherchefjorden involving the counting and categorisation, analysis and removal of anthropogenic debris. This will improve the local environment and in so doing will remove some of the survival pressure on wildlife. The litter so collected will be removed to Longyearbyen for suitable disposal and will allow the analysis of all matter collected for factors affecting its accumulation.

It is hoped that the method of selecting sites and their subsequent study in the field will test new techniques that can be applied globally. Methods of analysing and identifying the collected debris will help identify its likely sources and be used to assist in shutting these off in future.