Predictable pollution: an assessment of weather balloons and associated impacts on the marine environment--an example for the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Owen R O'Shea; Mark Hamann; Walter Smith; Heidi Taylor

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.12.047

Predictable pollution: an assessment of weather balloons and associated impacts on the marine environment--an example for the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Mar Pollut Bull. 2014 Feb 15;79(1-2):61-8. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.12.047. Epub 2014 Jan 13.

Authors

Owen R O'Shea¹, Mark Hamann², Walter Smith³, Heidi Taylor⁴

Affiliations

¹ Tangaroa Blue Foundation, PO Box 757, Port Douglas 4877, Queensland, Australia; Cape Eleuthera Institute, Eleuthera, Bahamas. Electronic address: Owenoshea@ceibahamas.org.
² School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia. Electronic address: Mark.hamann@jcu.edu.au.
³ Tangaroa Blue Foundation, PO Box 757, Port Douglas 4877, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: Wally@tangaroablue.org.
⁴ Tangaroa Blue Foundation, PO Box 757, Port Douglas 4877, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: Heidi@tangaroablue.org.

PMID: 24434000
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.12.047

Abstract

Efforts to curb pollution in the marine environment are covered by national and international legislation, yet weather balloons are released into the environment with no salvage agenda. Here, we assess impacts associated with weather balloons in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA). We use modeling to assess the probability of ocean endpoints for released weather balloons and predict pathways post-release. In addition, we use 21 months of data from beach cleanup events to validate our results and assess the abundance and frequency of weather balloon fragments in the GBRWHA. We found between 65% and 70% of balloons land in the ocean and ocean currents largely determine final endpoints. Beach cleanup data revealed 2460 weather balloon fragments were recovered from 24 sites within the GBRWHA. This is the first attempt to quantify this problem and these data will add support to a much-needed mitigation strategy for weather balloon waste.

Keywords: Beach cleaning; Dispersal modeling; Latex; Marine debris; Pollution.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Australia
Coral Reefs*
Environmental Monitoring / instrumentation*
Meteorology / instrumentation*
Models, Chemical*
Water Pollutants / analysis*
Water Pollution / statistics & numerical data

Substances

Water Pollutants