Marine Debris Composition on Remote Alaskan National Park Shores

Marine debris is a pervasive problem along coastlines around the world. The National Park Service manages approximately 3500 miles of shoreline in Alaska’s national park units combined. Most of these shores are remote, difficult and expensive to access. In 2011 the Tohoku earthquake hit Japan and generated a devastating tsunami that washed an estimated 150 million tons of debris out to sea. Much of the debris washed ashore in Alaska. The tsunami brought new attention to the long standing problem of marine debris. In 2015 the National Park Service mounted a two pronged effort to remove as much debris as possible from the shores of five park units in Alaska, and initiate education programs about the issue. Almost 11,000 kg of debris were removed from the shores of: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Kenai Fjords National Park, Katmai National Park, Bering Land Bridge National Preserve and Cape Krusenstern National Monument. Approximately 58% of the debris was plastic. Although much of the debris resembled items expected as a result of the tsunami, a great percentage of the debris was clearly from other sources, such as fishing and shipping. Preliminary analysis suggests that debris composition varied significantly between parks, possibly from locally-derived sources. This can influence how the National Park Service creates educational outreach programs that focus on marine debris prevention exercises.