November 2014

Pez Maya

2014 Beach Clean Results in Pez Maya

Objective

Monitor waste composition and trends at Pez Maya beach

Reduce contamination and threats to the species living in the area

Summary
In order to contribute to reduce pollution, threats to the local fauna and to collect data on the
composition of the marine debris that washes up on Pez Maya beach, a weekly cleanup is carried out by
volunteers and staff. In the last three months of 2014, a total of 452 kg of rubbish was collected, adding
up to a total of 2.3 tons of rubbish removed from the beach during the year.
Report
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), marine debris is defined as
any persistent solid material that is manufactured or processed and directly or indirectly, intentionally
or unintentionally, disposed of or abandoned into the marine environment or the Great Lakes.1 It
represents one of the biggest pollution problems in the oceans.

A national marine debris monitoring program can

provide a better understanding of the debris problem
and serve as an ongoing assessment component to
aid debris management strategies. Monitoring can
help clarify the marine debris problem (e.g., types,
sources, distribution). Marine debris data and
research can help formulate management solutions,
which must in turn be implemented by management
agencies with support from the private sector.
Ongoing monitoring activities can then be used to
assess the effectiveness of management strategies,
legislation and other activities designed to control
this pollution problem (Coe & Rodgers, 1997 and
Sheavly, 2005).2

Figure 1 Volunteers in action

In Pez Maya, the Ocean Conservancy methodology is used to clean the shores and extract helpful data
for the program. The beach cleans take place on a weekly basis and 9 zones of 150 meters length each
are monitored. The first zone starts in the mangrove mouth and the last one finishes at the southern
point of Pez Maya beach.

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Volunteers and staff members pick up all the debris that they find from the tide line to the vegetation
line, this to avoid including waste created by terrestrial sources. All the debris is separated in 4
categories: Non-recyclable, Glass, Plastic bottles and Plastic bottle caps. After collecting it, the debris is
weighted and the information is entered into the data base.
The numbers of items collected in the last quarter of the year are shown in the table below; a total of
452.75 kilograms of trash was removed from the beach, cutlery being the most abundant item (1846
pieces).

109

53

19
111

326

Plastic bags
Plastic bottles

Cuttlery
Cutlery

231

Food containers

170

Straws, stirrers

40

Syringes

304
1846

Rope
Toothbrush

106

Figure 2 Number of items collected in October-December 2014

The methodology classifies the debris according to their precedence; for the last quarter of 2014, most
of the rubbish came from shoreline and recreational activities.

10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
Shoreline and
recreational
activities

Ocean/waterway Smoking related

activities
activities

Dumping
activities

Medical/personal Additional Items

Hygiene

Figure 3 Precedence of the debris in Pez Maya beach

In total, in 2014 volunteers and staff managed to collect 2.3 tons of marine debris. In the graph below, a
comparison of the rubbish collected in 2014 was compared to the results of 2013.

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1000
900
800
Weight (Kg)

700
600
500

2014

400

2013

300
200
100
0
Jan
Jan-March

Apr
April-June

Jul
Sep
July-September
October-December

Figure 4 Total amount of rubbish (kg) collected per quarter in 2013 and 2014

Conclusion
It was a very successful year in which the team managed to clean more trash from the Pez Maya
shoreline. Effective documentation and monitoring activities to assess the types and amounts of marine
debris can help in the global reduction and abatement of the marine debris problem. Raising awareness
about this problem is vital to encourage people to have environmentally friendly practices.

References
1. http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/marinedebris101 visited on December 19th 2014
2. S.B. Sheavly. 2007. National Marine Debris Monitoring Program: Final Program Report, Data Analysis
and Summary.Prepared for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by Ocean Conservancy, Grant
Number X83053401-02. 76 pp.

To find out more about the Pez Maya expedition visit : http://www.gvi.co.uk/programs/marineconservation-expedition-mexico

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