Media Releases and Opportunities

The images show an assortment of debris scattered on the ocean floor: white plastic shopping bags, a tire encrusted in barnacles, fishing rope, rubber lobster bands, garbage bags buried in sandy grit and a derelict lobster trap occupied by a lone moon snail.

The items were all captured on video by researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax, N.S., who along with the Applied Oceans Research Group at NSCC, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Full Bay Scallop Association, scanned the bottom of the Bay of Fundy over a three-year period. Their work provides a unique glimpse into the undersea environment while also quantifying the amount of garbage and lost or discarded fishing gear littering the ocean floor.

Dalhousie research assistant Alexa Goodman and Tony Walker, a professor in Dalhousie’s School for Resource and Environmental Studies, were involved in the project and are some of the lead authors of a study published today (Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019) in the Marine Pollution Bulletin that outlines the findings.

The paper indicates that the bulk of the debris was plastic (51%), with fishing gear and other objects, like tires and metal, making up the remainder. The garbage was widespread, but was largely concentrated within nine kilometres of the shore.

Dr. Walker is available to provide perspective on the research and how the findings reinforce the need for governments to develop strategies to reduce the sources of benthic marine pollution.

Media contact:
Alison Auld
Senior Research Reporter
Dalhousie University
Cell: 1-902-220-0491
Email: alison.auld@dal.ca