We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Quantifying marine debris associated with coastal golf courses
Summary
Researchers collected and catalogued over 50,000 golf balls — roughly 2.5 tons — from coastal California intertidal zones adjacent to golf courses, and documented active degradation of the balls that releases microplastics into the marine environment, identifying golf courses as a previously overlooked source of coastal debris.
Identifying terrestrial sources of debris is essential to suppress the flow of plastic to the ocean. Here, we report a novel source of debris to the marine environment. From May 2016 to June 2018, we collected golf balls from coastal environments associated with five courses in Carmel, California. Our 75 collections recovered 39,602 balls from intertidal and nearshore environments adjacent to, or downriver from, the golf courses. Combining our collections with concurrent efforts of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the Pebble Beach Corporation, we report the retrieval of 50,681 balls, totaling approximately 2.5 tons of debris. We also examined decomposition patterns in the collected balls, which illustrate that degradation and loss of microplastic from golf balls to the marine environment may be of concern. Our findings will help to develop and direct mitigation procedures for this region and others with coastal golf courses.