Aquarium
12 May, 2020
- Team Leader
- Sophia Tellman
- Number of Participants
- 2
- Total Debris Collected
- 2.26 kgs (measured)
15.35702, -61.27803
Survey Information
- Location Name
- Aquarium
- Organization/Dive Centre
- Images Dominica & Island Dive Ops.
- City
- Belle Hall
- Country
- Dominica
- Date
- 12 May, 2020
- Survey Duration
- 42 Minutes
- GPS Coordinates
- Latitude: 15.35702
Longitude: -61.27803
- Weather Conditions
-
Partially cloudy, very brief rain on 3 days (<5 mins), mainly sunny with temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius
- Survey Depth Range
- 0.5–7.2 meters
- Area Surveyed
- 10023.5 m2
- Dominant Substrate
- sand
- Ecosystem
- rocky reef
- Wave Conditions
- Calm (glassy to rippled) for waves 0 – 0.1 meter high
Debris Items Collected
| plastic materials collected | |
|---|---|
| Bags: Trash (plastic) | 1 |
| Beverage Bottles: 2 Litres Or More (plastic) | 1 |
| Caps & Lids (plastic) | 1 |
| Cups, Plates, Forks, Knives, Spoons (plastic) | 1 |
| Food Wrappers (plastic) | 3 |
| Plastic Fragments | 1 |
| metal materials collected | |
|---|---|
| Beverage Cans (aluminium) | 1 |
| cloth materials collected | |
|---|---|
| Gloves (cloth) | 1 |
| Towels/rags | 1 |
| Cloth Fragments | 1 |
| Entangled Animals | |
|---|---|
| Other Animals | |
| Species or Common Name | Millepora spp./encrusting fire coral |
| Number Entangled | 1 |
| Status | injured |
| Type of Debris | Garbage bag |
| Comments | Coral was very white where the garbage bag was wrapped around it, but was otherwise healthy. |
Additional Information
No
A small square of cloth which was part of an umbrella cover. It even had a plastic umbrella tine stopper still attached.
Garbage bags, often break apart and get ingested by marine life
Glass bottles, makes the site less popular with divers due to risk of injury
Cans, end up congregating due to tides on top of sandy areas immediately adjacent to rocky reef formations, which cuts off travel from transient organisms to the sea grass nearby
Comments and Feedback
I have been pulling out a dive gear bag's worth (up to 45 lbs) of debris once or twice every month for a year from here. Despite this, it is a favorite site for me. Each time we go there we find something new and it is shallow enough for you to take your time and really look for small things with the occassional visit from larger animals. Today was the first dive where debris was so limited. This is possibly due to COVID-19 preventing beach goers from dwelling on the beach for meals and causing lower bar attendance (located across the street and up the road towards Kempenski Resort & Spa). We also have been getting limited rain, so the amount of incoming riverine pollution is likely lower as well. I would like to go back and add a trash receptacle at a later date and signs to keep the beach clean.
