Beach clean data in Marine Expeditions
Beach debris is without a doubt a worldwide problem and a very marine related topic. It is for this reason that for the past 4 years Pez Maya expedition has an ongoing beach clean project. Every week, Expedition members clean up the beach and classify the debris into the following categories: Fabric, Glass, Medical Waste, Metal, Natural Material, Other, Plastic, Polystyrene, Rope, Rubber
They weight it and enter the data as percentages to later analise it in the End of Phase report.
They weight it and enter the data as percentages to later analise it in the End of Phase report.
2008 average results are:
| Category | Percentage weight | |
| Fabric | 0.080183 |
|
| Glass | 12.47636 |
|
| Medical Waste | 0.074876 |
|
| Metal | 1.883078 |
|
| Natural Material | 8.187902 |
|
| Other | 6.830075 |
|
| Plastic | 54.76289 |
|
| Polystyrene | 4.170399 |
|
| Rope | 9.019809 |
|
| Rubber | 2.514433 |
|
| Total | 100 |
|
As we can appreciate in the table above plastic proves to be the most common waste collected followed by glass and rope. The results from Pez mayan beach in Sian Ka’an Reserve do not differ much from the ones from National clean ups and International data bases as the most common waste is plastic bags, cups and lids (13.9%-18% out of 76.9%) Source: The Ocean Conservancy Summary Report Mexico
Punta Gruesa Expedition in Mahahual is just restarting this phase the beach clean project so we will have more data to share and compare between the North and Southern beaches of Sian ka'an Reserve and North of Mahahual which is an important cruise ship pier and a rapidly developed town.
Moreover both expeditions are preparing sea and beach clean activities to participate in the Earth day to be held on the 22nd of April.
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