Debris in the Intertidal Zones of

Southern California Beaches

Alex Wessel, Chiara Allen, and Nicholas Luu

Physics and Environmental Science
Egler/Palmer - Fall 2016

1
 Table of Contents

Introduction
I)

Methods II)

Results
III)

Discussion IV)

Appendix
I) Introduction

Plastics and other waste have been in common use since the 1940s,
and they have become a part of our everyday lives (Brandon, 2016).
However, due to previous studies on the effects of plastic on ocean and
coastal life, there has been an effort to reduce or end plastic use (Brandon,
2016). Plastic pollution often results in environmental impacts such as
animal starvation, watershed pollution, and coastal erosion (Brandon,
2016). These impacts might seem like small side effects, but if they stack
up, they could cause mass extinction, or complete destruction of coastline
ecosystems (Brandon, 2016).
In recent times, several protected coastlines and wetlands have been
established in response to various studies done on damage to coastal areas
and wildlife. Protected coastlines are government protected areas with
specific restrictions. They are well maintained and regularly cleaned, with
lots of preventative measures going on to stop trash getting there in the
first place. Most San Diego protected beaches have semi-monthly cleanups,
like the Tijuana estuary beach (SD Coastkeeper, 2016). One thing that
differentiates the two types of beaches is the type of recreational and
commercial activity allowed (e.g., how La Jolla Cove bans surfing in order to
mitigate the human population in its waters). These sites have heavy
restrictions on recreational and commercial activity. They do not allow boats
in order to lessen the disturbance of the animals, as boats could damage the
sensitive marine life, are a possible trash source, and could even disturb
mating patterns. Other unprotected areas do not have as much of an effort
going on to do these kinds of things (California Department of Fish and
Wildlife, 2016). Unprotected beaches, such as Mission Beach in San Diego,
tend to be more heavily traveled, as they are more popular for tourists to
visit, and have gotten more trash dumped on them (Coastkeeper, 2015).
The objective of this research study is to find the differing quantities
and types of trash between beaches that are protected and not protected.
The research question is: what is the difference between beaches that are
protected, and beaches that have no regulations in terms of debris? The
study will help determine whether the money being spent to try to clean and
regulate beaches is useful. Our prediction is that the unprotected areas will
have a greater amount debris compared to protected areas.
II) Methods
A. Independent Variable
The independent variable is the protected status of our two beach
locations. One protected beach and one unprotected beach will be
examined.
B. Dependent Variables
The dependent variables examined are the quantity of debris pieces
found at the site, the different types of trash found at the site, and the
location of the debris (shore or water). If we cannot find trash, we will look
for previous data collected in similar studies.
C. Control Variables
In order to ensure the data collected is accurate, the depth of the area
trash is collected will be controlled, as well as the size of the sample area,
and the position the tidal cycle is in at the time of data collection, outgoing
mid tide.
D. Confounding Variables
This studys two major confounding variables are storms and big
beachside events, which may include BBQs and 5k runs. If a storm were to
pass through our data collection site, it potentially could wash in more trash
onto and near shore, or further into the water. This may result in a higher or
lower amount of trash in our findings than would otherwise be there, and
any beachside parties or BBQs. Those might leave large amounts trash on
the beach to be dragged eventually into the ocean, or eaten by animals.
E. Sample Size
Our sample size is two different beach sites. We will be doing two
transects at each of these beaches. One in the water and one on shore,
increasing our sample size while also increasing the accuracy of the data we
are collecting from the beaches.
F. Materials
Camera
Data Sheet
Sticks
Swimsuits
Sunscreen
Transect lines
Trash bags
G. Primary Research Method
1. Laying two pairs of 100 feet transect lines at a distance of half a
mile away from each other.One transect line laid 1.5-2.5 feet deep in
the water, one laid along the shoreline above the water level. In order
 to not have our transect lines float away, we will measure out the
height on our legs and walk out to that point.
2. Repeat on two beaches.
3.
III.) Results
This study references data our group collected from two separate San
Diego beach sites. Torrey Pines State Reserve, which is protected, and
Ocean Beach, which is unprotected. Both taken at 2:30 PM, and at outgoing
mid-tide.
The first data collection was conducted on October 22, at Torrey Pines
State Reserve. We found no debris in either transect. The nearest
residential area is 1.1 miles from where executed our transects, which is
32.928015, -117.259811. the nearest road is closer, .2 miles away.
The second data collection was conducted on October 25, at Ocean
Beach. We found three pieces of debris. Two fishing debris, and one piece of
seaglass. One in the intertidal transect, and two on the shore. Although the
closest residential area is only 300 feet away from where we did our
transects, which is 32.749109, -117.253114. The nearest road was only 350
feet away.
IV.)Discussion
The protected site was cleaner than the unprotected site. Although
our research results are truly inconclusive until conducted again with a
bigger sample size.
We lacked the amount of time and sample size required to have
significant findings that would have answered our question and truly
confirmed our hypothesis. Needing more information to do our experiment
in itself is a finding. A similar study done in Orange County conducted 43
random data collections over a month, and had a data size of 106 million
items, which weighed 12 metric tons total (Moore et al, 1998). In contrast
our two data collections which were conducted at two separate sites with
four transect lines only yielded three pieces of debris: one piece of
monofilament fishing line, a rubber luar, and a piece of glass. The study did
not yield enough data to make any statistically sound judgments about our
claim.
Recent storm activity may have skewed our data with a storm taking
place on the October 24, 2016. , the day before our second day of data
collection at Ocean Beach. Storm activity has been shown to change the
quantity and distribution of debris in marine environments (U.S. Geological
Survey, 2016). Due to the runoff skewing the composition and quantity of
debris on Ocean Beach, the data collected from the second data collection is
unusable.
The protected site was cleaner than the unprotected site. We found
that the protected beach had no non-organic debris, and found three pieces
of non-organic debris at the unprotected beach. . An explanation for this is
the heavily populated fishing pier near the stretch of beach that was
measured, along with the fact that Ocean Beach is more populated than
Torrey Pines, due to the location of each. Our research is inconclusive,
because of such a small sample size, however cleanup data from
Coastkeeper supports our claim. Coastkeeper found a difference in the
amount of debris they found when cleaning up protected and unprotected
beaches. At Ocean Beach, they collected 4.59 pounds of debris, per
volunteer; an unprotected beach. While they only collected 4.06 pounds of
trash per volunteer at Cardiff State Beach, a protected beach. Thats nearly
half a pound difference of debris collected per volunteer (San Diego
Coastkeeper, 2015).

In conclusion, our prediction, along with our results are inconclusive

until conducted again with a bigger sample size and done for a longer
period of time. We did find more debris on the unprotected site, and the
protected site had no debris. Coastkeeper found more debris at the
unprotected site as well.
Data Collected:
Ocean Beach (unprotected): One metallic debris, one plastic debris, and one
glass debris.
Torrey Pines (protected): Nothing.

Coastkeeper Data:
 Citations

http://www.sdcoastkeeper.org/learn/fishable/marine-debris/data-from-san-
diego-beach-cleanups

"Data from San Diego Beach Cleanups - San Diego Coastkeeper." San Diego
Coastkeeper. N.p.,

2015. Web. 02 Dec. 2016.

http://www.cleanwateraction.org/files/publications/Beach%20Debris
%20Orange%20County%20Study.pdf

Moore, S. L.

Composition and Distribution of Beach Debris in Orange County,

California (1999): n. pag. Web. 1

Dec. 2016.

"Polluted Runoff: Nonpoint Source Pollution." EPA. Environmental Protection

Agency, n.d. Web. 01

Dec. 2016.