Long-term Monitoring of Shoreline Debris in the Placentia Bay Area, Newfoundland (2018-2020)

This data was collected between 2018 and 2020 at 8 sample sites around Placentia Bay and consists of two data types: (1) Shoreline surface debris (SSD), and (2) Shoreline buried debris (SBD). With the exception of two sample sites, which were only visited once, in the first year of monitoring, frequency of sampling varied between daily, monthly or seasonally depending on the sample site, and was reduced to half-effort sampling in year 2.

In an effort to understand the importance of shoreline substrate and environmental factors at play on rocky shorelines, sediment type, stranded seaweed (wrack) cover, and the presence of snow and ice were recorded and carefully monitored in both datasets. SSD surveys identified debris visible on the shoreline surface from standing height, down to a lower size limit of 2cm. SBD surveys employed sample quadrats to remove sediment and wrack samples from the shoreline, down to a depth of ~5cm. Marine debris down to a lower size limit of 1mm was extracted from these samples using a combination of visual separation and seawater floatation protocols. For SSD data, debris abundance, density, and source category information were recorded. For SBD data, debris abundance, density, source category, size, and colour information were recorded.

This project is part of Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Coastal Environmental Baseline Program.

Access and Use

Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

Data and Resources

Citation

Keywords

Dataset extent

Metadata Reference Date(s) August 11, 2022 (Publication)
November 29, 2022 (Revision)
Data Reference Date(s) May 10, 2018 (Creation)
August 11, 2022 (Revision)
Frequency of Update As Needed

Responsible Party 1
Affiliation
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Role
  • Distributor
  • Owner
Responsible Party 2
Name
Melvin, Jessica
Affiliation
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Email
jmelvin@mun.ca
Role
  • Custodian
  • Distributor
  • Owner
  • Principal Investigator
Responsible Party 3
Name
Mather, Charles
Affiliation
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Email
cmather@mun.ca
Role
Collaborator

Field Value
Ocean Variables Marine debris
Scope Dataset
Status Completed
Maintenance Note Generated from https://cioos-siooc.github.io/metadata-entry-form
Spatial Extent [[[-55.241367526148, 47.13318059533826], [-54.03287145150085, 46.75252399555157], [-53.76095983495322, 47.4795845308438], [-54.04111119745684, 47.89558933645629], [-55.241367526148, 47.13318059533826]]]
North Bounding Latitude 46.75252399555157
South Bounding Latitude 47.89558933645629
East Bounding Longitude -53.76095983495322
West Bounding Longitude -55.241367526148
Temporal Extent
Begin
2018-05-10
End
2020-02-05
Vertical Extent
Min
0.0
Max
1.0
Default Locale English