Goa’s coast is now facing a bigger threat in the form of plastic debris getting into shores from Arabian Sea during the southwest monsoon season-with marine organisms at risk. At the same time, a study has ruled out possibility of terrestrial discharges of plastic through the rivers of Goa into the Arabian Sea.
A study by scientists from National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) along the six beaches of Goa has come to a conclusion that the onshore plastic, plastic debris moving in during the monsoon season, may lead to a major threat to marine organism.
The study called ‘Characteristics, seasonal distribution and surface degradation features of microplastic pellets along the Goa coast’ was conducted by a group of NIO scientist that include S Veerasingam, Mahua Saha, V. Suneel, P. Vethamony, Andrea Carmelita Rodrigues, Sourav Bhattacharyya and B.G. Naik.
Microplastic pellets (MPPs) are ubiquitous contaminants, recognized as a serious threat to the biotain coastal, estuarine and marine environment. The distribution, abundance, weathering and chemical characteristics of MPPs on the beaches of Goa, and their transport to the coast during the southwest (SW) monsoon is been studied.
MPPs were collected from six popular tropical beaches along the Goa coast during the northeast (January 2015) and southwest (June 2015) monsoon seasons. The beaches include Keri, Vagator and Calangute of north Goa and Colva, Mobor and Galgibag of south Goa. Around 100 MPPs were collected from the high-tide line of the sandy surface of each beach.
“A total number of 3000 MPPs were collected from six beaches along the Goa coast during January-June 2015. Overall, the occurrence of total MPPs on beaches along the Goa coast was found to be higher in June (1655 pellets) than January (1345 pellets). Significant variations were observed in abundance of MPPs on beaches during that period,” the study reveals.
“The strong ocean currents during SW monsoon could be playing a major role in pushing the micro plastic residue floating on the sea due to accidental spillage from ships during its transportation onto Goa beaches,” study concludes.
