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Whales and Marine Debris:
An Interactive Web Site for Teaching About Human Impacts on the Marine Environment
Kennedy, Jennifer L. ; Schulte, Dianna W. ; Bradt, Shane ; Toepfer, Michael
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Project Area: Jeffreys Ledge Region in the Gulf of Maine
Marine debris is a pervasive, yet totally preventable
problem. While it is easier to see and imagine the
effects of marine debris on shore, marine debris at sea
is a less tangible problem, with less-quantifiable
impacts.
Few studies have been done to track pelagic marine
debris (other than fishing gear) in the Gulf of Maine.
Since 1996, Blue Ocean Society for Marine
Conservation (BOS) scientists and interns have
collected data on whale sightings and pelagic marine
debris from commercial whale watching vessels in
New Hampshire and Massachusetts. This has given us
insight into whale behavior and site fidelity along with
trends in debris items, which allows us to target our
education efforts.
The goal of this project was to develop a way
that the public could easily visualize this data
and better understand their potential impact
on the health of the marine environment. This
was done by creating an interactive, GIS-based
web site that displays sightings of frequentlyseen individual humpback (Megaptera
novaeangliae) and fin whales (Balaenoptera
physalus) along with common floating litter
items (balloons, plastic bags, cans, bottles,
wrappers).
ME
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NH
Results
Nova
Scotia
Jeffreys
Ledge
Millions of
people visit
this area every
year for
tourism,
fishing, boating,
diving, and
shipping.
MA
Figure 5
Georges Bank
The web site allows users to map sightings of whales
and litter items in the years 2005-2009, and see the
overlap between whale habitat and human activities.
Corresponding lesson plans and other materials guide
viewers through the process of learning how individual
decisions can potentially impact marine life and their
habitat. Future work will involve mapping whales and
debris in additional years, and isolating instances of
where whales and litter items intersected at the same
time, allowing us to better determine the potential risk
to whales based on location, behavior, and litter items
present. This site, even in its initial stages, is relevant to
educators, students, the general public, and natural
resource managers, including those working coastal
and marine spatial planning.
Introduction
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Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation, 143 Pleasant Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801 USA, [email protected]
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University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824
Abstract
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Figure 4. Screen shot of web site at
cegis.unh.edu/WhalesAndDebris showing
sightings of plastic bags ( ) and the humpback
whale “Owl” ( )in 2008.
Figure 5. Close up of a portion of Jeffreys Ledge
showing sightings of plastic bags, the humpback
whale “Owl” and the date of the sighting.
Figure 4
Years Sighted
Marine debris impacts wildlife and habitats, and can
cause problems for fishermen, boaters, divers and
beachgoers. It is also an eyesore, and is expensive to
clean up.
Although marine debris is a problem, it is often “out of
sight, out of mind,” and unless the public is confronted
with an actual situation involving marine debris (an
entangled animal, for example), it is easy to forget
about the problem.
A web site was designed to begin to incorporate
locations of debris and whales to show that the simple
acts of not disposing of
trash properly can
result in a large
amount of debris on
the water, and allows
the viewer to draw
conclusions about how
that debris could
impact marine life.
Whale
Name
Figure 1. Plastic bag at sea.
Species
# of Sightings
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
(All Years)
Trigger
Fin Whale
14
Comet
Fjord
Ladder
Pinball
Satula
Owl
Flask
Fin Whale
Fin Whale
Fin Whale
Humpback Whale
Humpback Whale
Humpback Whale
Humpback Whale
30
49
67
39
53
74
195
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
To better visualize the data, a web portal was created by
UNH Cooperative Extension. The following litter and
whale data were integrated into a GIS map (Figures 3 & 4):
Methods
• Top 5 pelagic litter items: balloons, bottles,
plastic bags, cans and wrappers. These were
selected because they were found in high numbers
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Table 1. Fin (Balaenoptera
physalus) and humpback
(Megaptera novaeangliae) whales
plotted on map at http://
cegis.unh.edu/WhalesAndDebris/,
showing name, species, # of
sightings for all years and years
sighted.
and are also items that are easy for the public to
identify with. The user can view litter sightings by
item, year and month. Between 2005-2010, 11,433
pieces of debris were recorded on 1,487 whale watch
trips. Of these, 4,741items were plotted on the GIS
map.
• Sightings of eight frequently-seen
humpback and fin whales were
also incorporated.
These
sightings are plotted by individual
and year. Table 1 shows the
individual whales and the number
of times they were sighted each
year.
Education & Outreach
• A video and PDF file were
created to orient users to the Figure 6. Lesson plan
site.
• Feedback was solicited from users (educators, BOS staff
and board members). • A lesson plan (Figure 6) and an accompanying slide show
was created, distributed to educators, and is in the
process of testing. These materials can be downloaded
from www.blueoceansociety.org/MarineDebris/. Conclusions and Future Work
While this site does not (yet) show the intersection of
whales and marine debris at an exact place and time, it
does show that the simple act of not disposing of trash
properly can result in large amounts of debris on the water,
and the viewer may begin to speculate on how that debris
could impact marine life.
Figure 2. Pelagic litter data sheet.
Figure 3. Whale sightings summary sheet.
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Pelagic debris data (Figure 2) was collected aboard 4
whale watch vessels departing from Rye and Hampton,
NH and Newburyport, MA.
Data included location, time, item, composition,
condition (if applicable), growth/notes (if applicable) and
whether the debris was sighted in the vicinity of a
whale.
•
BOS staff and interns collected detailed whale sightings
data (Figure 3), including location, time, behavioral
sequencing, and an individual identification if possible.
Data was provided to UNH Cooperative Extension,
where it was passed through a quality control check,
used to create GIS files and projected to a coordinate
system to align with a bathymetric map of the Gulf of
Maine.
The more debris that’s floating on the water, the greater
potential impact to the marine environment, either through
direct effects such as entanglement or ingestion, or indirect
effects such as the release of toxins into the environment.
This site can be used as a tool to encourage positive
behavior change (e.g., teaching that using reusable bags
while at the beach or on the water will result in less debris
out in the water).
The site will also allow us to look more in-depth at where
whales are seen over time and what areas of the Gulf of
Maine they’re using (i.e., are they following different bottom
contours? Will overlaying additional data layers, such as
water temperature, give us additional insights?). As the site
develops, it will become even more of a useful tool for
educators and resource managers.
Future work will include:
• Incorporating the most recent sightings and debris data
into the database and map.
• Improving the speed of the map and the overall user
interface
• Integrating more information about each whale and
debris sighting (e.g., through a pop-up box)
• Making the data accessible through a wider variety of
methods, i.e., mobile devices, directly in ArcGIS, and
Google Earth, and
• Further seeking input from educators to improve its
usefulness.
More Information: www.blueoceansociety.org/MarineDebris
www.nhmarinedebris.org Acknowledgments
This project was conducted under the Marine Debris to Energy Project, which was funded by a NOAA Community-based Marine Debris Prevention and Removal Grant and the NH Coastal
Program with support from Waste Management and Wheelabrator Technologies. Thanks to Atlantic Whale Watch, Granite State Whale Watch, Newburyport Whale Watch and Al Gauron Fishing
& Whale Watching, and all the naturalists/research associates, interns and volunteers who collected data for this project.