On 24 and 30 April more than 192 volunteers joined the Good Karma Day in Playa Cavallería (Menorca) and in La Pineda (Tarragona) in a citizen science action to help us carry out macrosampling of plastic pellets.
These two events to raise awareness and disseminate information about the problem of plastic pellets in the Mediterranean, were organised in collaboration with Vila-seca Town Hall, Surfrider Foundation Europe and Per la mar Viva. They will help to obtain relevant information to understand the status, dynamics and impact of plastic pellet pollution in the Western Mediterranean.
In 2 days and in just 2 hours each day, a total of approximately 100,600 pellets in an area of 60m2 in Playa Cavallería and 1,830,000 pellets in an area of 200 m2 on La Pineda, thereby achieving a new world record.
These results will serve as data to quantify the number of pellets found in the accumulation zone of the beaches of Menorca and Tarragona, and therefore, to continue discovering and studying the true impact and extent of this pollution.
Macrosampling of pellets on Playa Cavalleria on 24 April. Photo by Xabi Menorca.
Macrosampling of pellets on La Pineda (Vila-Seca) on 30 April. Photo by Anna Lofi.
In addition to the macro-sampling of pellets, awareness-raising activities for all ages were held on La Pineda, such as upcycling workshops with the artist Visual Gallus (Jordi Llort Figueroa) and didactic talks with Surfrider Foundation España who presented the programme Coastal Defenders and the pellet issue at European level thel Marine Geosciences Research Group of Universitat de Barcelona talked to us about the citizen science project Surfing for Science, on the other hand, Tecnatox Research Group (Universitat Rovira i Virgili) presented the study on microplastics of the coast of Tarragona, MITERD – RAMPE showed us marine protected areas such as the Mediterranean cetacean corridor, Ferran Aguilar presented the photography book La Tortuga Marina de La Pineda and finally Jaume Folch was exhibiting his work La Mar de Tarragona.
Talk with Surfrider Foundation Spain about the Coastal Defenders programme and the pellet issue at European level. Photo by Anna Lofi.
Thanks to all the volunteers and collaborators who joined the Good Karma Day, actions like these are very important to give visibility to this problem that has gone unnoticed for a long time.
And what about you? Will you join us for action? Now you too can get involved and help us to identify other locations around the country affected by this type of pollution.
Free action co-financed by the FEMP.
Medpellets is a project developed by Good Karma Projects with the collaboration of the Biodiversity Foundation (Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge), through the Pleamar Program, co-financed by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).
Collaborating entities at the event:
Ajuntament de Vila-seca
Associació Per la Mar Viva
Surfrider Foundation España
