Environment International 136 (2020) 105494

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Environment International
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envint

Floating macro- and microplastics around the Southern Ocean: Results from T
the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition
Giuseppe Suariaa,b,1, , Vonica Peroldc, Jasmine R. Leed, Fabrice Lebouarde,f, Stefano Aliania,
⁎

Peter G. Ryanc,1
a
CNR-ISMAR (Institute of Marine Sciences – National Research Council), Lerici 19032, La Spezia, Italy
b
IEO-COB, Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Baleares, Mallorca, Spain
c
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
d
School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
e
Centre d’Etudes Biologiques Chizé, CNRS – Université de la Rochelle, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
f
Réserve Nationale des Terres Australes Françaises, TAAF, 97420 Saint Pierre, Reunion

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Handling Editor: Da Chen While macroplastics have been washing up on Southern Ocean islands for decades and microplastics have been
Keywords: found in seabirds from the region since 1960, there are still relatively few quantitative data on the amount of
Marine litter plastic pollution, especially with regard to floating plastics, at high southern latitudes. We present a baseline
Floating estimate of the abundance of floating plastics around the Southern Ocean from a survey of floating macro-, meso-
Macro debris and microplastic pollution conducted during the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition in 2016/17. A total of
Plastic pollution 40 net trawls and 626 h of observation were performed during this survey. Of these, 33 net samples and 552 h of
Antarctica observation were made in polar waters south of the Subtropical Front (STF). Only 5 microplastics and 17
Microplastics
macrolitter items were observed south of the STF, confirming the Southern Ocean as the region with the lowest
concentrations of plastic pollution globally. The mean concentrations of floating macrolitter (0.02–0.03
items·km−2) and small plastic fragments (188 ± 589 particles·km−2) south of the STF were one order of
magnitude lower than in adjacent temperate waters north of the STF, which suggests that the STF acts as a
barrier to the southward transport of floating debris. Despite their much lower density, the mass of macroplastics
was similar to that of floating microplastics in the Southern Ocean.

1. Introduction these records come from the Arctic Ocean, where significant amounts of
microplastics have been recorded in sea-ice cores (Obbard et al., 2014;
The global production of plastic materials has increased rapidly over Peeken et al., 2018), snow samples (Bergmann et al., 2019), on the
the last 70 years from 2 million tonnes per year in 1950 to over 380 seabed (Bergmann and Klages, 2012) and floating in surface and sub-
million tonnes in 2015 (Geyer et al., 2017). Of this production, between surface waters (e.g. Lusher et al., 2015; Còzar et al., 2017). By com-
60 and 99 million tonnes of plastic waste were disposed of into the parison, the Antarctic region has been considered physically isolated by
environment; a figure which is predicted to triple by 2060 (Lebreton the strong circumpolar frontal systems that characterise the Southern
and Andrady, 2019). As a result, plastic items are now widespread in Ocean and thus relatively unaffected by plastic pollution, even though
the marine environment. Vast accumulation areas of floating litter have plastic debris has been washing up on sub-Antarctic islands for decades
been discovered in all main oceanic gyres and virtually no place on (e.g. Gregory et al., 1984; Ryan, 1987a; Slip and Burton, 1991; Walker
earth can now be considered immune from plastic pollution, including et al., 1997; Convey et al., 2002; Eriksson et al., 2013). Crossing of the
remote islands and deep-sea ecosystems (Barnes et al., 2018; Chiba Antarctic Polar Front (APF) by driftwood and fishing-related materials
et al., 2018). has been reported in both directions since the early 1960s (Barber et al.,
Despite their ubiquitous presence, there are relatively few reports of 1959; Coombs and Landis, 1966) and in the 1980s, the presence of
micro- and macro-plastics in polar regions (Obbard, 2018). Most of microplastics in Antarctic waters was inferred based on the presence of

⁎
Corresponding author at: CNR-ISMAR (Institute of Marine Sciences – National Research Council), Lerici 19032, La Spezia, Italy.
E-mail address: giuseppe.suaria@sp.ismar.cnr.it (G. Suaria).
1
These authors contributed equally to this work.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.105494
Received 27 September 2019; Received in revised form 12 January 2020; Accepted 13 January 2020
Available online 27 January 2020
0160-4120/ © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/).
G. Suaria, et al. Environment International 136 (2020) 105494

ingested plastics in Antarctic (Thalassoica antarctica) and snow petrel changes in the amounts and types of drifting litter throughout the
(Pagodroma nivea), species which remain south of the APF year-round Antarctic region.
(Ryan, 1987b; van Franeker and Bell, 1988). More recently, our view of
the circumpolar fronts as a biogeographic barrier has been challenged 2. Materials and methods
by evidence that storm-driven surface waves and ocean eddies facilitate
crossing of the polar fronts resulting in more frequent north-south 2.1. Study area
dispersal of drifting materials than previously thought (Fraser et al.,
2016, 2018). It is becoming increasingly clear that the Southern Ocean Our survey area extends from temperate waters north of the
is not exempt from plastic pollution and that Antarctica is not as iso- Subtropical Front (STF) to the Southern Ocean, here defined as waters
lated from the rest of the world as previously considered (Ivar do Sul comprised between the STF and Antarctica (Orsi et al., 1995). The
et al., 2011; Waller et al., 2017). However, global-scale studies high- Southern Ocean was further subdivided into a Sub-Antarctic Zone
light the paucity of data about the density of floating plastics around (~43–60°S), between the STF and the Antarctic Polar Front (APF), and
Antarctica (Cózar et al., 2014; Eriksen et al., 2014). an Antarctic Zone (> 60°S), between the APF and continental Antarc-
Much of what we do know about the concentration of floating litter tica. The climatological mean positions of major fronts (STF and APF)
in the Southern Ocean is based on a handful of macro-litter (> 25 mm) were derived from the Southern Ocean Atlas Database after Orsi et al.
observations carried out around the Antarctic Peninsula (Barnes and (1995) retrieved from https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/
Milner, 2005; Barnes et al., 2009) or in the Atlantic sector of the orsifronts/vignettes/orsifronts.html.
Southern Ocean (Ryan, 1990; Barnes et al., 2010; Ryan et al., 2014).
Much less is known about the occurrence of mesolitter (5–25 mm) and 2.2. Microplastics
microplastics (< 5 mm) in the region. A few neuston net samples were
collected in the 1980s (Gregory et al., 1984; Ryan, 1990), but despite 2.2.1. Sampling and laboratory analysis
the growing volume of microplastic research and the issue being in- Forty neuston samples were collected around the Antarctic con-
creasingly recognised globally (Ryan, 2015b), it wasn’t until 2017 that tinent between December 2016 and May 2017 (Supplementary
the first data about microplastics in Antarctic sediments (Munari et al., Table 1): 33 samples were collected from the R/V Akademik Tryoshnikov
2017; Waller et al., 2017) and surface waters (Cincinelli et al., 2017; during the ACE expedition (Legs 1–3) from December 2016 to March
Isobe et al., 2017) were published. Microplastics have since been de- 2017, and a further 7 samples were collected between Cape Town and
tected in marine sediments near Rothera Research Station (Reed et al., the Prince Edward Islands from the S.A. Agulhas II during May 2017,
2018), in surface waters around the Antarctic Peninsula (Lacerda et al., because no samples were collected in this sector of the Southern Ocean
2019), in Admiralty Bay (Absher et al., 2019), in the Ross Sea and in the during ACE. All samples were collected using the same 200 μm neuston
Eastern Antarctic Region (Grover-Johnson, 2018), confirming that mi- net (Aquatic BioTechnology ©) equipped with a 100 × 30 cm rectan-
croplastic pollution has indeed reached the southernmost limits of the gular frame opening, towed for 15 min at a speed of 2–2.5 knots. Net
Southern Ocean (Waller et al., 2017). deployments were made in fairly good weather conditions only (i.e. sea
Antarctic and sub-Antarctic wildlife are not immune from the risks state < 6) from the ship’s leeward (starboard) side beyond the bow
caused by plastic pollution. The first records of microplastic ingestion wave, in order to avoid wake turbulence and contamination from the
by seabirds were from the Southern Ocean, when prions Pachyptila spp. ship. Paint fragments were collected from the ship’s deck as con-
were found to contain plastic in 1960 (Harper and Fowler, 1987). Since tamination controls.
then, ingestion of small plastic fibres and fragments has been docu- Once on board, the net was rinsed from the outside with running
mented in other seabird species (Ryan, 1987b; Auman et al., 2004; water in order to concentrate all particles in the cod end. Samples were
Bessa et al., 2019; Le Guen et al., 2020 this issue) and Southern Ocean then transferred to 300 ml glass jars, and stored for laboratory analysis.
fur seals (Eriksson and Burton, 2003; Ryan et al., 2016). Like micro- In the laboratory, all samples were examined under a dissecting stereo-
plastics, which can be ingested, macroplastics also have negative im- microscope (20x magnification). Putative plastic particles were care-
pacts on Antarctic wildlife, primarily through entanglement of large fully hand-picked using forceps and transferred to aluminum foil.
predators in man-made debris (Bonner and McCann, 1982; Croxall Particles were then oven-dried at 40 °C for 24 h, weighed on an elec-
et al., 1990; Arnould and Croxall, 1995; Hucke-Gaete et al., 1997; Nel tronic balance (accuracy: 0.1 mg) and classified according to their color
and Nel, 1999; Hofmeyr et al., 2002; Waluda and Staniland, 2013). Of and shape (pellets, fragments, foam, films and filaments). Due to the
particular concern is the potential role of stranded plastics as vectors for large mesh size of the net and to the high risk of external contamina-
the spread of exotic species (Barnes & Fraser, 2003) or antibiotic re- tion, textile microfibers were excluded from the analysis. The length of
sistances across Antarctic marine environments (Laganà et al., 2018). the trawls (mean ± SD: 975.1 ± 261.5 m) and the sampled volume
By 2017, the problem had garnered attention from key scientific bodies (mean ± SD: 292.53 ± 78.47 m3) were computed using the net frame
responsible for the monitoring and protection of Antarctic environ- dimensions and the tow distance derived from GPS start and stop
ments and marine species, such as the Commission for the Conservation readings. Microplastic concentrations, expressed as g·L−1, g·km−2,
of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). Microplastics were particles·L−1 and particles·km−2, were then computed (Table 1) and
identified as a ‘serious and emerging threat’, resulting in the Scientific plotted in Fig. 1.
Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) recently creating an action
group on the issue of plastic pollution in the Southern Ocean (Waller 2.2.2. µFTIR analysis
and Hughes, 2018). All extracted particles were analyzed using µFTIR (Fourier
Here we present the results of a circumpolar survey of floating Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) in order to confirm their polymeric
macro- (> 25 mm), meso- (5–25 mm) and microplastic (< 5 mm) identity. Particle characterization was performed using a LUMOS stand-
pollution performed between 2016 and 2017 during the Antarctic alone FTIR microscope (Bruker Optik GmbH), equipped with a motor-
Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE). By combining visual observations ized XY sample stage and an automated ATR probe (Ge crystal).
for floating macrolitter and neuston net sampling for micro- and me- Following background scans, ATR spectra were recorded by averaging
soplastic particles, we provide a first circumpolar baseline of the 64 scans per particle with a spectral resolution of 4 cm−1 (range
abundance of floating plastics around the Southern Ocean across a 4000–650 cm−1). CO2 interference (adsorption at 2300–2400 cm−1)
broad size spectrum. These data contribute to the validation of global was removed for clarity. The infrared spectra were processed and
floating plastic models and to a better understanding of oceanic litter analyzed using OPUS 7.5 software (Bruker). Polymer identification was
budgets and transport dynamics, enabling the assessment of future performed by comparison with commercially available libraries and an

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Table 1
Number and concentration of small plastic fragments (< 25 mm) collected using a 200 µm neuston net in the Southern Ocean and adjacent temperate waters off
Africa during the austral summer 2016/17 (ACE and Marion cruise).
Temperate (north of STF) Southern Ocean Southern Ocean All

43-50°S 50-60°S > 60°S

Number of net samples 7 33 7 16 10 40

Number of MP particles 67 5 1 1 3 72
Mean density (items·km−2) 8941 188 251 57 353 1719
Mean density (items·L-1) 29.8 0.62 0.84 0.19 1.18 5.7
Mean mass (g·km−2) 128.1 0.78 3.26 0.06 0.21 23.1
Mean mass (g·L−1) 0.4269 0.0026 0.0109 0.0002 0.0007 0.0769

additional custom library compiled within the framework of the JPI- (χ2 = 0.303, df = 1, P = 0.62). All floating debris items were counted,
OCEANS project BASEMAN (Primpke et al., 2018). Sample spectra were including kelps (Fraser et al., 2018), as well as seabirds and cetaceans,
compared to the database (second-derivative, vector-normalized) and and counts recorded in notebooks for later transcription into a
only matches > 75% with reference spectra were accepted as verified spreadsheet. Counts of marine predators were binned into 10-minute
polymers. For size distribution analysis, all particles were measured to intervals, but all floating debris was scored individually to the nearest
the nearest 1 µm from the digital images collected by the instrument minute, and the location determined from the ship’s data log. Surveys
prior to each scan (OPUS 7.5 software). Particles were measured in were conducted throughout daylight hours, irrespective of sea condi-
length, according to their longest dimension, and width, perpendicular tions.
to length. Particle size was then calculated as the geometric mean of the Litter items were scored as to size (estimated to the nearest 1 cm),
first and second dimension (Fig. 2). perpendicular distance from the ship (m), buoyancy (at, above or below
the water surface), type of material (plastic, metal, glass, worked wood,
paper-card, etc.), function (fishing gear, packaging, etc.) and colour.
2.3. Macrolitter survey Most items were photographed with a Canon 7D mark II digital SLR and
a Canon 500 mm F4 lens to assist in item identification; some were
The count protocol for macrolitter items followed Ryan (2013), as found to be organic material (e.g. pieces of bird skin, kelp, etc.),
modified in Ryan (2014). Teams of 1–3 observers equipped with bi- highlighting the value of photographing suspected litter items.
noculars recorded floating debris while the ship was steaming at 10–14 Litter densities were estimated for items within 50 m of the ship’s
knots. Counts were made on the side of the ship’s bow with the best track, except south of 60°S, where no items were observed within 50 m
lighting and visibility, either from the bow (elevation 8–9 m above the of the ship. Crude density estimates assumed all items within 50 m of
water line) when weather permitted, or from the bridge or flying bridge the ship were detected, whereas extrapolated densities used simple size-
(20–22 m). Overall, most observations were made from the ship’s specific detection functions to estimate the proportion of items not
bridge (73.9% by time and 75.5% by distance), but observation point detected at 10-m distance bands from the ship (see Ryan, 2013, 2014
had no effect on the number of items recorded in the Southern Ocean

Fig. 1. The concentration of small plastic fragments (< 25 mm) collected around Antarctica expressed in (a) particles·km−2 and (b) g·km−2 (n = 40 samples). The
mean positions of major fronts (APF and STF) are also shown (after Orsi et al., 1995).

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3. Results

3.1. Microplastics

A total of 203 particles were extracted from the 40 neuston samples.

µFTIR analysis revealed that most of these particles closely matched the
FTIR spectra of the ship’s paint or were made of non-synthetic materials
such as silica, rust or cellulose. Therefore, all paint fragments (n = 118)
and non-synthetic items (n = 13) were removed from our dataset and
excluded from calculations, leaving a total of 72 plastic particles
(Table 1). Most of these plastic particles were polyethylene (61%),
followed by polypropylene (29%), polystyrene (4%), PVC (3%), nylon
and PMMA (1 particle each). Of these, 93% were < 5 mm in size (i.e.
microplastics), 5 particles were > 5 mm (i.e. mesoplastics) and only 1
particle was < 1 mm (Fig. 2). Mean particle size was 3.03 ± 2.81 mm
(range 0.68–21.5 mm; median 2.51 mm). Most particles were sec-
ondary hard-plastic fragments (n = 65 items), with 3 filaments, 2 foam
items, 1 pellet and 1 film also collected. The most common colour was
Fig. 2. The size-frequency distribution of all meso and microplastics collected white (71%), followed by blue (9%), green (7%), black (4%), yellow
during this survey (n = 72 particles). The size of each item was calculated as (3%), transparent (3%) and grey (3%).
the geometric mean of the longest and widest dimension perpendicular to Most of the plastic particles (67 out of 72) were retrieved from the
length, measured using the digital images collected by OPUS 7.5 software seven samples collected in temperate waters north of the Subtropical
(Bruker). The line shows a normal fit (parametric estimation). Front (STF), south of Africa (Table 1, Fig. 1). Only five microplastic
particles were found in the 33 samples collected in the Southern Ocean,
for details). Because relatively few items were seen during the entire south of the STF (Table 1); 88% of samples from south of the STF (29
survey, the detection functions were based on data collected on similar out of 33) contained no plastic. The mean density of plastic north of the
cruises in the Bay of Bengal and Southern Ocean (Ryan, 2013, 2014; STF (8941 ± 14075 particles·km−2) was 48 times higher than in the
Ryan et al., 2014), when a similar range of weather conditions was Southern Ocean (188 ± 589 particles·km−2) and 163 times higher in
encountered (from Beaufort 1–11, but predominantly 3–8). Size-spe- terms of mass concentrations (128 ± 271 vs 0.78 ± 3.97 g·km−2).
cific detection functions were estimated for four size classes of litter Within the Southern Ocean, there were no marked differences between
items: < 5 cm (2.7× the crude count), 5–15 cm (1.8×), 15–30 cm densities collected between 40 and 50°S (1 plastic particle from 7
(1.4×), and > 30 cm (1.3×). No litter items were seen within 50 m of samples) and 50–60°S (1 plastic particle from 16 samples), but slightly
the ship south of 60°S, so a crude density estimate was made from the higher concentrations were found south of 60°S (3 particles in 10
few litter items seen within 500 m of the ship (the maximum detection samples, mean 353 particles·km−2). Interestingly, no polyethylene
distance recorded). There is no empirical correction factor for litter fragments were found in the Southern Ocean, where only fragments of
items > 50 m from the ship’s track, and thus a conservative estimate of PVC (n = 2), polypropylene (n = 1), polystyrene (n = 1) and nylon
2 was used (assumes half of all items were detected from 50 to 500 m). filament (n = 1) were found (Table 2).
Litter items seen within 20 km of a port (Cape Town, Hobart and Punta
Arenas) were excluded from analyses, as waters close to urban centres
tend to support higher than average densities of litter (e.g. Ryan, 2014). 3.2. Macrolitter
Masses of individual litter items were estimated from surveys of
similar items on beaches and urban litter (Eriksen et al., 2014; PGR Away from urban ports, we observed only 54 macro-litter items (40
unpubl. data). Because of the uncertainty in these masses, a lower and within 50 m of the ship’s track) during 626 h of observations, covering
upper plausible mass was assigned to each item, and used to estimate a 15,417 km of transects (Table 3; Supplementary Table 2). By compar-
range of macrolitter mass densities. The lower mass density value ison, 10 items were observed during 3.8 h of transects (48.2 km) within
combined the low mass value per item with the crude density estimate, 20 km of Cape Town, Hobart and Punta Arenas. Of the litter items
whereas the upper mass density value combined the high mass value observed in the open ocean, most (68.5%) were in temperate waters
per item with the extrapolated density estimates, thus providing the north of the Subtropical Convergence off Africa and Tasmania (the only
largest confidence interval for the mass density estimates. areas on the cruise track to traverse temperate waters, Fig. 3). The
density of floating artificial debris in temperate waters (0.28–0.51
items·km−2) was an order of magnitude higher than that in the
Southern Ocean (0.021–0.030 items·km−2; Table 3), but both were
appreciably lower than the density close to urban centres (7

Table 2
Polymer composition of all plastic fragments (< 25 mm) collected using a 200 µm neuston net in the Southern Ocean and adjacent temperate waters off Africa during
austral summer of 2016/17 (ACE and Marion cruise).
Polymer Temperate (north of STF) Southern Ocean Southern Ocean Total

43-50°S 50-60°S > 60°S

Polyethylene (PE) 44 0 0 0 0 44 (61.1%)

Polypropylene (PP) 20 1 0 1 0 21 (29.2%)
Polystyrene (PS) 2 1 0 0 1 3 (4.2%)
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) 0 2 1 0 1 2 (2.8%)
Polyamide (nylon) 0 1 0 0 1 1 (1.4%)
Poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) 1 0 0 0 0 1 (1.4%)

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Table 3
The density of floating debris in the Southern Ocean and adjacent temperate waters off Africa and Tasmania recorded during the ACE cruise in the austral summer of
2016/17 (excluding debris sighted within 20 km of ports).
Temperate waters (north of STF) Southern Ocean Southern Ocean

43-60°S > 60°S

Transect length (km) 1850 13,567 8756 4811

Transect duration (h) 74 552 345 207
Total litter items 37 17 15 2
Items within 50 m 26 14 4 0*
Density of all litter·km-2 0.28–0.51 0.021–0.030 0.032–0.047 0.001
Density of plastic items·km-2 0.26–0.48 0.018–0.025 0.025–0.038 0.001
Mass of all litter g·km-2 16.6–30.1 3.8–8.3 5.9–12.9 0.4–1.3
Mass of plastic g·km-2 7.7–14.1 1.1–2.6 1.7–4.0 0.4–1.3

* Both items south of 60°S were > 50 m from the ship’s track (see methods for further details).

items·km−2). Within the Southern Ocean, there was more debris south Antarctica south of 60°S (Kuklinski et al., 2019). Our estimates of the
of the STF to 60°S, with only two items observed south of 60°S concentrations of floating macro- and microplastics in Antarctic waters
(both > 50 m from the ship’s track; Table 3). are one order of magnitude lower than adjacent temperate waters and
Most litter items were made of plastic (87%, Table 4), with bottles several orders of magnitude lower than what is generally found in
and pieces of plastic predominating north of the STF and expanded coastal waters or in oceanic accumulation zones (Cózar et al., 2014;
polystyrene (styrofoam) being most abundant in the Southern Ocean, Eriksen et al., 2014; Suaria et al., 2015; Campanale et al., 2019;
followed by fishing floats (buoys), bottles and fragments of rigid plastic Rothäusler et al., 2019). These findings support previous field ob-
(Supplementary Table 3). Flexible packaging (bags and food wrap- servations (Ryan et al., 2014) and oceanographic dispersal models
pings) was scarce south of the STF. Litter items averaged larger in the (Lacerda et al., 2019) suggesting that circumpolar fronts, winds and
Southern Ocean than in temperate waters off Africa, and tended to be currents limit the southward transport of drifting litter in the Southern
more buoyant farther south (Table 5). Ocean. This hypothesis is supported by the pronounced decrease in the
occurrence of floating packaging and single-use items such as bags and
4. Discussion food wrappings (Table 4), and by the paucity of polyethylene and
polypropylene microplastics in Southern Ocean samples (Table 2), de-
Our results show that the density of floating plastics around spite being the two most common polymers in single-use applications as
Antarctica is very low, confirming that the Southern Ocean is char- well as in surface waters worldwide (as highlighted by Lacerda et al.,
acterised by low levels of plastic pollution (Ivar do Sul et al., 2011; 2019). Alternatively, as shown by a recent modeling study, the role of
Ryan et al., 2014), although not completely free of microplastics as Antarctic Circumpolar Currents in preventing transported matter from
recently suggested by a citizen-science circumpolar survey which failed entering the Southern Ocean weakens significantly with depth
to detect any plastic fragments in 10 net samples collected around (Wichmann et al., 2019). Moreover, wind- and wave-driven mixing and

Fig. 3. The concentration of floating macroplastics sighted around the Southern Ocean expressed in (a) items·km−2 and (b) g·km−2 (n = 15,417 km of transects). The
mean positions of major fronts (APF and STF) are also shown (after Orsi et al., 1995).

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Table 4 commonly encountered in the Southern Ocean.

The types of floating debris observed in the Southern Ocean and adjacent Contrary to what was found by Ryan et al. (2014), the concentration
temperate waters off Africa and Tasmania during the ACE cruise in the austral of floating macrolitter in the Antarctic Zone south of 60°S was one order
summer of 2016/17. of magnitude lower than in sub-Antarctic waters between the Antarctic
Type of litter item Temperate (north Southern Southern Ocean Polar Front and the Subtropical Front (Table 3). This is not surprising,
of STF) Ocean given that human impacts (i.e. fishing, tourism and research) are
43-60°S > 60°S greater in the sub-Antarctic region (Campos et al., 2013) and that litter
All plastic 33 14 12 2 stranding rates on Antarctic shores are generally lower than those re-
Bottles and canisters 10 2 1 1 corded on sub-Antarctic islands (Convey et al., 2002; Ivar do Sul et al.,
Bags and food wraps 4 1 1 0 2011; Eriksson et al., 2013). However, confidence in our estimates of
Lids 2 0 0 0 the abundance and distribution of floating macrolitter is limited by the
Styrofoam lumps 4 5 5 0
small number of items detected, with no macrolitter items observed
Fishing floats & 3 2 1 1
ropes within 50 m of the ship’s track south of 60°S. We were forced to use
Trays and crates 2 1 1 0 detection functions derived from other studies to extrapolate for over-
Shoes 1 1 1 0 looked debris items, and even though these studies used the same
Other user item 1 0 0 0
methodology (and mostly the same observers) from similar sized vessels
Pieces (hard 6 2 2 0
fragments)
across a similar range of oceanic conditions, the estimates of floating
All non-plastic 4 3 3 0 macroplastic densities reported from this study should be treated as
Metal cannisters 2 1 1 0 indicative rather than precise estimates, especially since using a
Light bulbs 1 0 0 0 transect width of 500 m and assuming that all litter items within 500 m
Wood 1 1 1 0
from the ship are detected, might lead to severe underestimation of
Card/paper 0 1 1 0
All litter items 37 17 15 2 litter densities.
Interestingly, unlike macroplastics, the density of microplastics was
if anything greater south of 60°S (Table 1). However, the very small
Table 5 number of microplastics detected limits the statistical power of our
Size and buoyancy of floating debris observed in the Southern Ocean and ad- results. Isobe et al. (2017) also found higher extrapolated concentra-
jacent temperate waters off Africa and Tasmania during the ACE cruise in tions of microplastics (including several polyethylene and poly-
2016/17. propylene fragments) south of the APF (i.e. 136,000–286,000 pie-
Litter parameter Temperate (north of Southern Southern Ocean ces·km−2) than in samples collected in sub-Antarctic waters between
STF) Ocean 45°S and 60°S (i.e. 38 of 44 microplastics were extracted by these au-
43-60°S > 60°S thors from only two samples collected south of 60°S), suggesting that
once beyond the ACC and oceanic fronts, microplastics may be trapped
Size of litter item
< 5 cm 8 1 1 0 in polar waters around Antarctica. However, the sample size in that
5–15 cm 6 0 0 0 study was only five net tows along a latitudinal transect (Isobe et al.,
15–30 cm 11 8 7 1 2017). As yet there is no quantitative evidence to determine whether or
30–60 cm 6 7 7 0
not microplastics are crossing the ACC, or if the detected particles result
> 60 cm 6 1 0 1
Buoyancy
from local fishing, tourist and/or research activities, as recently sug-
Above the 15 12 10 2 gested for the Ross Sea (Cincinelli et al., 2017; Munari et al., 2017;
surface Waller et al., 2017). The size-class distribution of the collected particles
At the surface 14 3 3 0 seemed to follow very closely that originally reported by Cózar et al.
Below the surface 8 2 2 0
(2014), suggesting a removal of particles < 1 mm. Although the
causes of this gap in the size distribution are currently unknown, re-
Langmuir turbulence can greatly enhance the submersion of buoyant moval of particles this size, either through biofouling or other size-se-
plastic debris (Kukulka et al., 2012; Brunner et al., 2015). Therefore, in lective processes such as ingestion by planktivorous fish and zoo-
the highly dynamic Southern Ocean, microplastics can be more prone to plankton (Dawson et al., 2018), have been suggested as likely
be transported to polar regions by subsurface currents, hence ex- explanations (Cózar et al., 2014).
plaining the low concentrations usually found in Antarctic surface Our estimated density of microplastics in terms of mass
waters. (0.78 ± 3.97 g·km−2) is similar to that reported from net samples
Although it is challenging to infer the sources of the observed items, collected south of the Antarctic Polar Front by Cózar et al. (2014), i.e.
the only piece of cardboard observed, at 57°S, between Tasmania and 0.1–0.5 g·km−2, but lower than the 27.8 g·km−2 (0.21–146 g·km−2)
East Antarctica, presumably came from a ship, as cardboard does not found by Lacerda et al. (2019) around the Antarctic Peninsula, where
typically float for very long at sea, supporting the conclusion expressed local human activities are higher. Overall, these concentrations are
by many authors, that most litter found in Antarctica derives from local within the range of concentrations predicted by Eriksen et al. (2014) for
sources such as fishing, tourism and research activities (e.g. Ivar do Sul surface waters in the Southern Ocean (0.55–56.58 g·km−2) and are of
et al., 2011; Waller et al., 2017). Most macrolitter items observed in the the same order of magnitude as our estimate of macroplastic con-
Southern Ocean were large, buoyant items such as expanded poly- centration in the region (1.1–2.6 g·km−2). This paucity of macroplastics
styrene lumps, plastic bottles and fishing buoys (Table 5), which is in terms of weight is especially remarkable considering that in oceanic
consistent with long-distant transport favouring larger items, and par- waters macro- and megaplastics generally account for 75–78% of all
ticularly buoyant items that are unlikely to sink due to fouling (Ryan, floating plastic mass (Eriksen et al., 2014; Lebreton et al., 2018).
2015a). Highly buoyant items also have significant windage, which More than half (58%) of the particles collected in our neuston
presumably aids their dispersal across the Antarctic Circumpolar Cur- samples were paint fragments, later established as contamination from
rent (ACC) (Fraser et al., 2018) as well as allowing them to remain the survey ships. Lacerda et al. (2019) also reported very large numbers
afloat for long periods around Antarctica (Lacerda et al., 2019). How- of paint particles in their samples from the Antarctic Peninsula (i.e.
ever, it also must be noted that buoyant items might be easier to detect 2805 paint fragments vs 78 plastic particles). Although most pre-
during visual surveys, especially in rough seas conditions such as those sumably came from our survey vessels, paint chips are continuously
generated during ongoing repair, maintenance and cleaning of all ship

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G. Suaria, et al. Environment International 136 (2020) 105494

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