Marine litter at (Al-Ghandoor area) the most northern part of the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea

doi:10.4236/ns.2011.311118

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Vol.3, No.11, 921-926 (2011) Natural Science

http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ns.2011.311118

Marine litter at (Al-Ghandoor area) the most northern

part of the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba,

Red Sea

Tariq Al-Najjar1*, Abd Al-Wahab Al-Shiyab2

1Faculty of Marine Sciences, Department of Marine Biology, Jordan University, Aqaba Branch, Aqaba, Jorden;

*Corresponding Author: [email protected]

2Marine Science Station, Jordan University/Yarmouk University, Aqaba, Jorden.

Received 1 October 2011; revised 5 November 2011; accepted 15 November 2011.

ABSTRACT

Composition and abundance of submerged ma-

rine litter at one selected site within a coral reef

area along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of

Aqaba has been estimated. The litter was col-

lected in a clean up voluntarily campaigns that

took place in the period 19 September 2006. A

total of 14,613 items weighing 4112.2 kg were

collected during the survey. Mean litter density

in the individual sampling sites varied between

about 1 and 6 items/m2 with an over all mean

density of 2 items/m2. The mean weight of the

collected items per sampling site varied be-

tween 0.06 and 1.81 kg/m2 with an overall mean

of 0.85 kg/m2. Cans accounted for 41% of the

collected items, plastic was the second most

popular (38%) while glass litter was the third

most abundant item (17%). By comparison,

other items formed only 4% of the total items

collected during the campaigns. Approximately

46% of the plastic litter consisted of fragments

followed by bottles bags and containers (18%).

Potential sources are pointed out and recom-

mendations and actions to deal with the prob-

lem are suggested.

Keywords: Marine Debris; Marine Litter; Gulf of

Aqaba; Clean up Dive

1. INTRODUCTION

Marine litter composition, abundance, distribution and

quantification of the types and amounts on beaches have

been studied and reported from many parts of the world

[1-19].

The main sources of marine litter are the: sea-borne

sources which include industrial and domestic wastes

disposed off at sea, and the land-based sources which

include litter originating from visitors to the coast,

whether small items such as drink cans and containers,

or those originating from the unauthorized dumping of

large items such as landfill materials [5,16,20-28].

Benthic marine debris may also have detrimental ef-

fect on coral reef ecosystem by damaging of corals cov-

ered by debris [29]. Movement of fishing gear can cause

damage to coral substrate comprising the reef structure;

some nets recovered had 20% of their weight attributable

to broken coral fragments. Movement of fishing gear

across shallow reefs destroys other benthic reef flora and

fauna and entangles macrofauna, including threatened

and endangered species [30].

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1. Clean Up Sites

Submerged debris was removed and collected from

one underwater site within coral reef areas at the most

northern tip of the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba

(Figure 1). Site was selected based on the type of usage

and activities that take place at the site. The North beach

(Al-Ghandoor ) is located at the most northern part of the

Gulf of Aqaba, and characterized by heavy tourism ac-

tivities and by the presence of many public cafés. How-

ever, diving, snorkeling and swimming activities are

permitted within this site.

2.2. Method of Clean Up Survey

The clean up campaign has been conducted in 16 Sep-

tember 2006. Site was divided into one segments/tran-

sect (one squares) of 20 m × 20 m; the total area of site

was 400 m2. All litter at the site was collected by 60

SCUBA divers moving along the transect, to ensure that

T. Al-Najjar et al. / Natural Science 3 (2011) 921-926

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Figure 1. Clean up dive site, along the Jordanian coast of the

Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea.

all debris within the transect were collected. Divers pick

up debris free from the substrate/sea bottom using care

to avoid disturbing the sea bottom agitating the sedi-

ments, stepping on marine biota or causing coral damage.

Pieces of nets found fully incorporate into the reef

structure, and no longer an entanglement hazard, were

left in place to avoid additional coral damage and pre-

serve associated-coral growth. Removed debris was

lifted to the sea surface by using lifting bags carried by

the two divers. Snorklers on the sea surface were helping

in collecting the filled bags. All debris was then trans-

ported to the beach where it was sorted into broad cate-

gories: glass, metals, plastic, cardboard, rubber, fishing

gear and others. Each category was further sorted into

more subcategories: cups, bags, containers, etc., which

were counted and weighed. Total amount of debris in

each site was determined by summing the amount of

litter for each liters bag. Table 1 shows the total number

of divers participated in each clean up dive.

3. RESULTS

A total of 14,613 litter items weighing 4112.2 kg were

collected during the clean up of Al-Ghandoor site. In

terms of counts per m2 (36.5 item/m2), mean counts of

litter in the site varied from 0.008 to 15 item/m2 with an

overall mean of 3.04 item/m2 for the whole study area

(Figure 2).

In terms of weight (10.28 kg/m2), the mean weight of

the items collected from the sampling sites varied from

0.055 - 2.98 kg/m2, with an overall mean of 0.86 kg/m2

Table 1. Clean up participants and total number of divers par-

ticipated in clean up dive.

Clean up participants Number of Divers

Aqaba Marine Park Center of ASEZA 4

Royal Navy 20

Marine Science Station 6

Jordan Royal Ecological Diving Society (JREDS) 10

Private diving centers 20

Total 60

for the whole study area (Figure 3).

When the type of litter was considered metal cans

showed the highest litter occurrence 41% compared with

the rest items (Figure 4). Plastic accounted for 38% of

the items counted, while total glass was the third most

important item and constituted 17%. Other item was the

fourth most important item. Within the plastics when the

weight is considered, about 36% consisted of bottles and

36% of Fragments, whereas, containers bags accounted

for 28% and 2% respectively (Figure 5).

4. DISCUSSION

A significant amount of literature is dedicated to

beach litter types, distributions, and temporal variations

[7], but almost no exist with respect to submerged (ben-

thic) marine litter by the 1990s [31]. In comparison, only

few studies have recently been published with regard to

submerged and subsurface nearshore litter on the global

level ([20,32-35]).

Searching the literature, we did not fined a single re-

port on this subject in the whole Red Sea region includ-

ing the Gulf of Aqaba. The first single published report

was by [36] on the litter pollution on the Jordanian

shores of the Gulf of Aqaba. In that report we hinted

very briefly to the presence of marine debris in the

coastal waters and among the corals of the Jordanian

side of the Gulf of Aqaba.

Knowing the seriousness of the problem we felt it is

urgent to follow up this issue, investigate the magnitude

of the problem, and try to provide information that can

help the official authorities and decision makers to deal-

ing with the issue and solving the problems related to it.

Therefore, we participated in the clean up dive cam-

paigns, identified, categorized, and enumerated the col-

lected items and finally reported the results of the cam-

paigns.

The results indicate a high diversity of litter collected

from the studied site. The most likely explanation for

this diversity is related to the uses of the selected site.

The higher counts of items found at Al-Ghandoor site is

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Figure 2. Total number of litter per m2 and its percentage in clean up site.

Figure 3. Total weight (kg/m2) of litter and its percentage in clean up site.

T. Al-Najjar et al. / Natural Science 3 (2011) 921-926

924

Figure 4. Percentage of litter items collected from different

clean up sites.

Figure 5. Percentage of plastic litter items collected in the

clean up site.

attributed to the fact that this site is popular and most

accessible site to local public and tourists. The litter

items found in the waters of these sites, particularly plas-

tic Bottles and bags, metal cans, and pieces of glass are

associated with and indicative of the activities of beach

goers.

Variations in the distribution and differences in the

composition of debris on recreation and non-recreation

beaches of the same study area have been noted and dis-

cussed by [36] who indicated that the waste discarded

from the Aqaba (Jordan)-Nweibi (Egypt) ferry boat is a

major source of litter found on the beach of the protected

area within the Marine Science Station beach at the

southern edge of the passengers port.

The results in the present study indicated that metal

cans and plastics were the numerically dominant litter

item within the whole study area followed by glass was

the third dominant item. These results are similar to what

has been reported from many parts of the world. Among

these are the results of [7] who studied the submerged

marine debris at Curacao West Indies waters, and found

that plastics were the dominant litter items (47% of the

total debris) followed by glass and metals. Similarly, [37]

found that plastic was the most abundant debris (79% -

83%) followed by metal (7.5% - 8.5%) in two enclosed

gulfs in Western Greece. Plastic in a form of bags and

bottles were the most common (70%) submerged debris

on the sea floor along the European coast [32]. Plastic

and metal were also the most common items of benthic

marine debris in many locations surrounding Kodiak

Island, Alaska [38]. According to the same report fishery

related submerged plastic were also common. Plastics

were the most common type of anthropogenic debris on

a wide area of the continental shelf of the southern Cali-

fornia Bight [35]. [29] reported the results of multi-

agency divers clean up survey that took place in two

northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Fourteen tons of derelict

fishing gear was removed in addition to other types of

reef debris.

In a previous report on the beach litter of the present

study area, we have concluded that most of the litter on

the Jordanian coastline of the Gulf of Aqaba results from

recreational and shipping activities; it was not easy to

differentiate between flotsam and litter left by beach

visitors; and that much of the letter onto the beaches was

of local land-based or close offshore origin [36]. It is

accepted that each of these sources requires a different

management action to affect a reduction in marine debris

[39].

In the present study, we have tried to benefit from the

coordinated efforts of volunteer divers and researcher to

clean the Al-Ghandoor the most popular area for the

tourist and the local visitors from debris in waters of less

than [29,36], and collect information on their types, and

distribution. The results of the present and other multi-

agency cleanup campaigns [39] show that these cam-

paigns are useful and can help producing good scientific

data and reports, which are useful for decision-makers

and environmental managers. This is also true for those

in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba region, which has

been designated under the terms of regulation 10 of

MARPOL and its Annexes as a “special area”. Annex V,

in particular prohibits and restricts the disposal of all

garbage from ships in any special area. However, it is

believed that the following actions can be useful in re-

ducing the debris in the study area.

 Educational programs that are directed at reducing all

litter including land-based sources.

 Educational and public awareness programs targeting

users of the marine environment including commer-

cial and recreational fishers, boaters including glass

boats, beach goers, divers, school teachers, students.

 Educational tools must be made widely available and

distributed free to all targeted users. Tools may in-

clude brochures, leaflets, stickers and posters.

 Multi-agency clean up campaigns must be maintained

the year around and data of the campaigns made avail-

T. Al-Najjar et al. / Natural Science 3 (2011) 921-926

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able to the participants, decision makers, stakeholders,

and the public.

 Put suitable regulations and enforce the already ado-

pted ones to ensure the compliance of marine and

each user with these regulations.

 Cooperation and coordination with other riparian

countries along the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba to

take the necessary measures and actions including

cleaning campaigns that can help keeping the Gulf of

Aqaba waters and reefs free from marine debris.

5. CONCLUSIONS

Composition and abundance of submerged marine lit-

ter at one selected site (Al-Ghandoor) within a coral reef

area along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba has

been estimated. The results indicated that metal cans and

plastics were the numerically dominant litter item within

the whole study area followed by glass was the third

dominant item. The high diversity of litter collected

from the study site is attributed to its popular and most

accessible site for local public and tourists. The results

of the present and other multi-agency cleanup campaigns

show that these campaigns are useful and can help pro-

ducing good scientific data and reports, which are useful

for decision-makers and environmental managers.

6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors acknowledge the staff of The Royal Marine Conserva-

tion Society of Jordan (JREDS), especially Mr. Faisal Abu-Alsondus,

the Aqaba Diving Centers, the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Author-

ity (AZEZA), the Aqaba Marine Park and the Marine Science Station

(MSS), and Jordanian Military force for their great efforts in the un-

dertaking of the underwater clean up dive. This was supported by the

NATO projects (SfP 982161 and 981883).

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