FROM CASTAWAYS TO THROWAWAYS - MARINE LITTER IN THE PITCAIRN ISLANDS

Pollution of the oceans by garbage is a serious problem. World,vide, as many as 8 million items of garbage may enter the seas on a daily basis. These items may survive some time, drifting in the oceans and give rise to other environmental problems such as causing hazards to wildlife (through ingestion and entanglement) before being washed ashore. Surveys of beaches on Ducie and Oeno Atolls in the Pitcairn Islands were compared with a similar survey on a beach in S.W. Ireland. The three beaches were similar in the density and major categories of garbage to be found, but differed in subtle ways. For example the Pacific beaches had a greater proportion of bottles and buoys, whereas the Irish beach had a greater proportion of sweet wrappers and polythene bags. Although these remote islands may be thousands of miles from industrial cent-es their beaches are apparently as dirty as those in Europe. (C) 1995 The Linnean Society of London