WK 04. Beach litter surveys in History
The research done during these few days has been focused on solving the following question: How were things done in the past, how they are being done at the moment, and what I am proposing that is different? This question led me to find the methodologies of the different studies that had been done in the past. I was specifically looking at how beach surveys started, and how they had changed with the integration of new technologies.
My research took me to interesting findings:
- The interest in researching the problem of marine litter/ debris started as early as 1960’s, with the first evidence of seabirds ingesting plastics, and seals getting entangled.
- The number of researchers grew in tandem with the production of plastic, dramatically increasing in the 90’s.
- The research and interest in Microplastics has grown since 2005.
- As of 2007, the collection of data during in-situ beach surveys was still done through data cards.
- In 2009, standardized guidelines for different kinds of marine surveys were released by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. This still included a printable data card to collect and record data.
- I have found new technologies entering the realm of marine surveys, but many of them are only used by experts and it leaves out of the equation the importance and the potential of citizen-powered research, and awareness.
For this section, I used again the technique of annotated bibliography, which helped me to collect different resources and then build a strong historical background for the project. The way I decided to tackle the question was by breaking It down into the following :
How has the monitoring of marine litter been done in the past, and how has it progressed?
- Find resources that talk about the methodology of different marine surveys done in the past, so I can assess changes or new introductions done to the surveys’ framework/ structure.
How has technology been used to support the survey and monitoring of Marine litter more recently? What is being explored?
- Finding recent articles that use Computer Vision/ ML techniques in beach surveys
- Find other technologies that are also being used to aid monitoring efforts
The Big Plastic Count
I was targeted on Instagram with the following initiative happening in the UK: The Big Plastic Count. I find it relevant to my research since it focuses on the power of the people to collect data individually, and once gathered and analysed it will work as evidence to challenge policy, the government, big brands, and supermarkets.
Even though this isn’t happening in coastal areas, it approaches the problem of correctly labeling or assigning an ID to different plastics. I will be undertaking this campaign from the 11th of March to the 17th, and it might help me to form extra views on how surveying could be generally improved.
As a first observation, the initiative tells the participants to use their Plastic ID tool. The name makes it sound like a piece of technology that will help you to understand the type of plastic you have in front of you, but realistically, it is a landing page with categories and various examples of the rubbish that falls within those categories. You have to go through the list to understand what plastic you are logging in the datasheet, which is primarily filled by hand.
I would also like to add that the quantification of plastic at home is a lot simpler than the quantification of plastic in marine environments because these plastic items haven’t been exposed to weather conditions that deteriorate the material. Finally, because the plastics collected at home go through classification straight after their use, it also means that the materials don’t require huge physical effort and a significant amount of time to be collected.
Supervision Feedback
During this week I have been focusing on gathering historical research on how marine and beach surveys have been evolving in time. My supervisor has been actively reviewing my project report writing, as well as evaluating the progress of the project. This last supervision focused on reviewing and getting the following tasks done:
- Finishing the historical context research and writing.
- Finish the Ethical form to be sent before next week and approved before Easter break.
- Define the values underpinning my work.
- Collate information about projects that are similar to mine
- Start mockup design
Some of these tasks are a continuation of almost-finished tasks that were started last week. Even though I was prompted to start mocking up while doing research, I have found that I can’t start planning an app, if I haven’t fully finished my ‘competitor’ research.
My aim for this week is to fully finish the research process to have a solid understanding of the features I want to include in my app.