PLASTICS IN THE ANTARCTIC ENVIRONMENT: ARE WE LOOKING ONLY AT THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG?

Abstract

We synthesise the available literature on marine debris and its impacts in the sub-Antarctic islands, the Antarctic Peninsula and on the coasts of Antarctica. A total of 98 documents covering reports from 1982 to 2010 were included, and of these 95% had their full contents accessed. Seventy documents were obtained online as scientific abstracts from the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). The occurrence of marine debris in the Antarctic environment, fur seal entanglement in marine debris, interactions between seabirds and marine debris and long range transport of benthos on floating plastics were the main issues identified. Fishing operations in the Southern Ocean were identified as the major source of marine debris, but depending on the type of debris reported, plastics from lower latitudes may also cross the Polar Front (PF). Possible links between Antarctic and South America, the closest intercontinental connection, in relation to plastic marine debris pollution are highlighted. As reported at lower latitudes, plastic pollution is an important problem now challenging the Antarctic environment. However, further specific and detailed studies are vital, since our current level of knowledge probably exposes only a small part of the full problem - the tip of iceberg.