Passport to Recovery:

Using citizen science to monitor microplastic acumilation on Kangaroo Island.

01 / 05

Plastic has become such an essential item in today’s society; however it has now infiltrated every ecosystem on earth.

While macro plastics are easy to see, microplastics are much harder to detect and have become prevalent on beaches globally.

Unfortunately, plastics can have a devastating effect on marine wildlife such as sea turtles and seabirds who consume or become entrapped in plastic debris.

Microplastics can come in a variety of forms and are classified as <5mm in size.

Plastic pollution can come from everyday items such as microfibers from our clothing, microbeads from our cosmetics and cleaning products and even nurdles and polystyrene foam from our online shopping.

Passport to Recovery is a citizen science program aimed at getting visitors and locals involved in the post bushfire monitoring of Kangaroo Island.

The Passport to Recovery Debris Detective project, collects data on microplastic accumulation on nine beaches across Kangaroo Island.

Kangaroo Island is home to many stunning beaches including Stokes Bay Australia's #1 beach in 2023!

By participating in the Debris Detective project you will directly contribute to keeping the beautiful beaches of KI clean!

Below is a map of beach locations where citizen scientists will be assessing microplastic load overtime!

Keep checking back in on the map for more updates on microplastic from our dedicated citizen scientists!

Debris Detective locations