Portugal’s seas, despite the preferred image of pristine, crystal clear and unpolluted water, contain an estimated 750,000 pieces of rubbish just floating around.
The 'rubbish study' looking at the amount of floating items in the Portuguese Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) was carried out by a team of biologists from the University of Aveiro in 2011 whose results are only now being released, to the shock of environmentalists.
The study was limited to floating rubbish that was larger than two centimeters in diameter and the shocking results puts Portuguese waters on the ‘black list’ of some of the most polluted seas on the planet.
The data collection was carried out in the summer of 2011 by several observers aboard the Santa Maria Manuela as part of the ‘LIFE + MarPro’ project, coordinated by the University.
The data, that only now is being published, is from an area covering much of the Portuguese EEZ and analyses only rubbish floating on the surface of the sea, a small percentage of the total as much already has sunk to the detriment of the sub-aquatic eco-system.
Far from being rubbish free, Portugal's ocean area has more in common with the North Sea and the coastal waters of Japan.
According to researcher Sara Sá, responsible for the study within the Department of Biology at the University, of the materials found - plastic dominates. Next came styrofoam, debris from the fishing industry, paper, cardboard and wood.
Sara Sá said, the objects "included several types of plastics, cables and fishing lines which are made of very resistant materials which can float for long periods of time."
The northern sector of the Exclusive Economic Zone was the worst, a result that the researcher believes is related to the high number of shipping lanes and fishing vessels operating in this area, which are important originators of the garbage floating around in our ocean waters.
