The first report of deep-sea litter in the South-Western Caribbean Sea

Marine litter is a world-wide problem, but the knowledge on this topic in remote areas such as the poles and the deep-sea is still limited. This paper seeks to provide the first accounts of deep-sea litter in the South-Western Caribbean Sea. The survey used 5066 still images from ROV video surveys a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin 2020-08, Vol.157, p.111327-111327, Article 111327
Main Authors: Botero, Camilo M., Zielinski, Seweryn, Pereira, Cristina I., León, Jorge A., Dueñas, Luisa F., Puentes, Vladimir
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Deep sea
Deep water
Deep-sea debris
Deepwater drilling
Drilling
Exploratory drilling
Human impact
Human influences
Litter
Marine debris
Marine litter
Marine organisms
Marine pollution
Offshore drilling rigs
Oil and gas exploration
Plastic debris
Polls & surveys
ROV
Sea pollution
Surveying
Surveys
Underwater vehicles
Unmanned vehicle
Unmanned vehicles
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Summary:Marine litter is a world-wide problem, but the knowledge on this topic in remote areas such as the poles and the deep-sea is still limited. This paper seeks to provide the first accounts of deep-sea litter in the South-Western Caribbean Sea. The survey used 5066 still images from ROV video surveys around four hydrocarbon exploratory drilling zones. Forty-eight deep-sea litter items were found at depths between 427 and 2561 m, and analyzed by three different marine litter classifications. Plastic was the most frequent material (65%) and general litter the main category (69%). Almost half of the deep-sea litter items were found close to marine organism. This baseline is a first step to further research of human impact on the marine bottoms of the Caribbean. The paper highlights the importance of deep-sea litter as a descriptor of marine pollution, and the role of scientific cooperation between off-shore industry and the academy. •Deep-sea litter items were found off the Colombian Caribbean coast at depths between 427 and 2561 m.•ROV video surveys and still images were taken around four hydrocarbon exploratory drilling zones.•Three different marine litter classifications were used (Deep-sea Debris Database, Litterbase and BLAT-QQ).•Plastic was the most frequent material (65%) and general litter the main category (69%).
ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111327