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A study carried out by researchers from the Interdisciplinary Center for Marine and Environmental Research of the University of Porto (CIIMAR) on five northern beaches concluded that there was more trash than the usual deposition of algae.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, Marcos Rubal, a researcher at the University of Porto center, explained that, initially, the team’s intention was to study sargassum, understand its ecological importance and how this resource, a result of the natural deposition of algae and seagrasses. on the beaches, it could be valued.
However, when they began to analyze this natural resource in five northern beaches – Praia de Moledo, Vila Praia de Âncora, Praia do Cabedelo, Praia de São Pedro de Paramos and Barrinha de Esmoriz – they were “shocked by the amount of garbage that seemed mixed “.
“We always found a lot of garbage in the middle, so we decided to add this garbage component to the study and from there, in addition to quantifying the algae and species of algae that appeared in the algae, we began to quantify the garbage to to be able to compare ”. Marcos Rubal said.
During the study, which began in 2017, the research team chose to choose “poorly urbanized” beaches and collect seaweed, algae and trash at two different times, one during the summer and one during the winter.
“The result of our work is that both the amount of algae and the amount of garbage vary greatly, both between beaches and between dates,” he said, adding, however, that the amount of garbage can be “up to four times the weight total sargassum “, especially in winter.
During this time of year, the deposition of garbage, such as leftover ropes, tangled nets, fishing lines, plastic plugs for growing mussels and a variety of plastics, was higher, mainly due to “storms and rising water levels.” , for example, from the river Miño “.
“The type of garbage changed a lot between winter and summer,” added Marcos Rubal, saying that in the hottest season the garbage found was based on cigarette butts, food scraps, small plastics, water bottles, packets of juice and others. pollutants.
For Lusa, Marcos Rubal said that the team’s next step is to understand how garbage can change the role of sargassum, which includes important ecological services on sandy beaches such as the maintenance of the nutrient cycle or the marine trophic chains in the ecosystem. coastal.
“What we did was quantify the amount of algae, algae and garbage that was there, now we know that there is that amount of garbage and the next step is to study the effects it can have,” he said, adding that research in other countries indicates that the Intake of the plastic is not positive for animals that eat sargassum and its effects can be harmful.
O estudo, entitled “Spatio-temporal variability of anthropogenic and natural debris accumulations along the drift line: marine debris exceeds debris on the sandy beaches of northern Portugal”, published in the international journal Journal of Marine Science and Engineering.
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