A new study led by the University of Oxford has developed a high-resolution model to quantify the sources of plastic debris accumulating on beaches across the Seychelles and other island states in the western Indian Ocean.
A new study led by the University of Oxford has developed a high-resolution model to quantify the sources of plastic debris accumulating on beaches across the Seychelles and other island states in the western Indian Ocean. The results, published in Marine Pollution Bulletin, demonstrate that most of this waste originates from distant sources and not from the islands themselves.
The model simulated the movement of both land-based and marine types of plastic pollution across the world’s oceans. This used input data on ocean currents, waves, and winds, and plastic debris entering the ocean from coastal populations, rivers and fisheries, to predict plastic debris accumulation at 27 sites in the Seychelles and wider western Indian ocean.
Read more at: University of Oxford
Debris accumulating on Aldabra Atoll, a remote coral island and UNESCO World Heritage Site in the southwestern Seychelles. These photographs were taken as part of a major 2019 clean-up operation on the island, the Aldabra Clean-Up Project (part-organised by researchers at the University of Oxford). Credit: Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF). (Photo Credit: Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF))
