Two students survey for debris among rocks and driftwood.

During the Survey: Survey Protocol

There are a few things you will need to do while conducting an MDMAP survey. Some things will only need to occur during your first survey, while others should be done during every survey. You can see a summary of those tasks below. 

During First Survey
During Every Survey
  • Navigate to the exact survey site using the GPS coordinates or landmarks
  • Complete the Survey Coversheet
  • Navigate to the transects you randomly determined earlier
  • Count debris and complete Transect Survey Form for each transect

Survey Steps

To see an example and learn more about what your survey will look like, check out the “Conducting a Survey” tutorial video. Discussion questions for all of the MDMAP training videos are also available.

 

Here is the general outline of how to conduct the MDMAP survey. More details on each step are available in the section below: 

Step 1: Select your transects
  • We suggest identifying the random transects before reaching the site, see Before Every Survey: Transect Selection and Checklists for more information. Here are a few reminders and tips that will be helpful when you are onsite:
    • The survey needs to be 100 meters long.
    • Transects are determined randomly.
    • There can be as many transects as you need for the class!
    • Your transect numbers represent where each transect begins. 
    • Each transect runs all the way from the back barrier to the water’s edge.
    • The transects need to be 5 meters across.
    • There should be one or two students per transect. There cannot be more than two.
  • See Diagram 2 in the Shoreline Survey Guide, page 8, for examples of four transects across the whole 100-meter site.
Step 2: Set up the survey and record site conditions
  • Navigate to the survey site using a permanent landmark or the GPS coordinate of the site start.
  • From the site start, use a metric unit measuring wheel, measuring tape, or measuring app to find the beginning of each of the transects. These can be marked with flags or cones.
  • If you are establishing a new site, complete the Shoreline Site Characterization Form. This only needs to be done once during the first survey at a new site. 
  • Fill out the Survey Coversheet. 
  • If you are taking photographs of your site (which is optional, but encouraged), take site photos now. 
Cross-Curricular Concept: While reviewing the detailed information on each data field, you may choose to discuss with your students the potential importance of each. This can be a great opportunity to discuss how variables (e.g., site remoteness) can impact marine debris. You may also discuss methods by which to measure characteristics, such as beach slope or direction. 
Step 3: Survey transects
Teacher Tip: See Diagram 3 in the Shoreline Survey Guide, page 10, for a summary of the search instructions. You may want to print this graphic out for students to reference during the survey. The Student Directions and Day-of-Survey Guide is another, more detailed resource for students.
Survey at least four transects
  • To ensure that data are comparable between surveys, no more than two people can search for debris in a given transect. Break student groups into pairs and remember that you can survey more than four transects, but should not have more than two individuals per transect. 
Teacher Tip: Since no more than two students should search for debris in each transect, it might make sense to implement student jobs to help stay organized and keep students engaged throughout the survey. This way, there will be fewer groups to manage, but there will still only be two students surveying the transect. Suggested jobs: site characterization recorders, debris datasheet recorders, debris collectors, team leaders/coordinators, photographers, etc. 
Teacher Tip: Group students into “color teams” and use electrical or duct tape to mark all of their supplies with that color.
Cross-Curricular Concept: Why can no more than two people search for debris in each transect? Keeping the search area consistent is also important. We rarely find all of the debris while conducting a survey. The larger a search area the more likely we are to miss debris. For this reason we keep the transect width to 5 meters and have only one or two people per transect – it keeps the area each person is searching more manageable. But won’t more people find more debris? Why not allow more? In many places where MDMAP is conducted, only one or two people are available for the survey. If some surveys have more and some have less, the amount of debris that gets missed will vary. Keeping the number of people constant ensures that, on average, the amount of debris that is missed is also constant.
Step 3a: Search the Main Beach
  • Search all the way from the water’s edge to the back barrier (or from the back barrier to the water’s edge) on the surface of the substrate. This is the “Main Beach.” 
  • Walk along the edge of the transect and scan for debris on the surface within half of the transect. Do not dig for debris below the surface during the search. To maintain a transect that is 5 meters across, use a 5-meter rope or measuring tape. It can be held taut between two surveyors as you walk, or you can mark the edges of the transect with extra flags or cones and then search for debris. Enter the transect only to collect debris. 
  • Record counts of debris items on the Transect Survey Form (use one form for each transect).
Cross-Curricular Concept: Why shouldn’t we dig for debris? Using the same level and type of effort for each survey keeps the data consistent. Unless everyone participating in MDMAP dug for debris to the same depth, the data won’t be comparable, for this reason we stick to the surface.
Step 3b: Search the Back Barrier
  • If the site has a back barrier that can be surveyed (e.g., rocks, dunes, vegetation), while maintaining your 5-meter transect, measure a distance of two meters into the back barrier. An example of a back barrier that cannot be surveyed is a steep cliff. 
  • Stand at the edge of the back barrier (with your back to the water) and look into it to visually record the debris you see from the edge to 2 meters in. Do not enter sensitive vegetation or unstable surfaces. 
  • Record these counts separately, in the “Back Barrier” section of the item counts side of the Transect Survey Form.
Cross-Curricular Concept: Why should we enter the transect only to collect debris? Like many elements of the protocol, this rule keeps the procedure and effort consistent. If all teams are searching from the edge, then they are all searching in the same way - even if they might otherwise be more (or less) thorough. One way to illustrate the importance of this is to imagine two different survey teams surveying the exact same transect. The transect has 15 pieces of marine debris in it. One team is by nature a couple of perfectionists and the other is less so, in fact they are inclined to rush through the transect to get done as quickly as possible so they can play in the sand. The first group crawls around on their hands and knees within the transect for a half an hour, retracing their steps multiple times to try to get ALL the debris. The second group speeds through, even ignoring a couple of things they think might be debris but don’t stop to investigate. The first group finds all 15 pieces and the second group finds 8. The personalities of the teams influenced the data. We try to avoid this by providing a rule that balances out these different inclinations, so that on average every team is likely to find (and miss) the same amount of debris.
Cross-Curricular Concept: What is the back barrier, and why is it surveyed differently? The back barrier is wherever the material that makes up the beach transitions into some other type of material. For example, if the beach you are surveying is made up of rocks, the back barrier would be when the rocks end, perhaps in some vegetation or a steep cliff. The back barrier is surveyed separately because it is different from the rest of the beach. That difference means that our ability to detect debris there will be different, and that the material will accumulate debris differently. To keep data consistent, we keep these two different areas separate in our recording.
Step 4: Categorize debris and complete transect survey forms

Completing the forms

Cross-Curricular Concept: While reviewing this detailed information, you may choose to discuss with your students the potential importance of each data field. This can be a great opportunity to discuss how variables (e.g., the presence of trash cans) can impact marine debris. 

Recording debris

  • Debris can be recorded on the back side of the Transect Survey Form as the students find it, or it can all be gathered in a bucket then sorted, counted, recorded, and photographed at the end.
  • Debris found on the “Main Beach” portion of the transect (all the way to the water’s edge) should be counted and categorized separately from the back barrier.
  • Be careful not to combine debris from different transects or from the main beach and back barrier until it has all been counted, categorized, and recorded separately.
Teacher Tip: If you have students who would prefer not to walk the transect, or a larger group of students, you can assign individuals or groups to conduct consistency checks on the debris categorization for each transect. After the surveyors collect and categorize their debris, the consistency checkers should independently review and categorize the same debris, discussing and resolving any discrepancies in the categorization of a piece of debris.
  • If you are taking photographs of your debris (which is optional, but encouraged), take photos of collected debris for each transect’s main beach and back barrier now. 
Teacher Tip: After completing the survey form, take a picture of it in the field in case it gets wet or lost.
What to count?
  • Only record items that measure at least 2.5 centimeters, or 1 inch (roughly the size of a bottle cap), in the longest dimension. Items smaller than 2.5 centimeters should not be counted, but their abundance can be documented with photos or notes. This is because on average, people can find most items that are 2.5 centimeters or larger within a 5-meter transect, but smaller items are less likely to be detected. At this time MDMAP does not include a method for smaller debris. 
Teacher Tip: Recording only larger debris items (rather than all debris you find) can be really frustrating for students. Remind them that they can collect these smaller debris items, but they should not count them on their Transect Survey Forms. 
  • Record debris items according to the predominant (majority) material type on the surface of the item. Practice using the Marine Debris Item Categorization Guide to identify examples of difficult-to-identify items or items made of multiple materials in the classroom before conducting your survey. 
Cross-Curricular Concept: The Item Categorization Guide can be a great resource for students, especially students who are developing English proficiency.   
Teacher Tip: Review the protocol procedures before leaving for your site, rather than once you arrive. The more you prepare in advance, the more ready your students will be and the more fun you’ll have! 
Teacher Tip: It may be helpful for you to create a “Survey Agenda” to stay organized. Here is an example agenda with some estimated times for each activity: 
  • Review instructions and set up survey: 30 minutes
  • Group watches first transect: 20 minutes
  • Partners survey transects: 10-20 minutes
  • Categorize debris and complete forms: 20 minutes 
  • Share out: 20 minutes
  • Optional beach cleanup: 1 hour
Teacher Tip: Larger classes may benefit from conducting surveys in rotations, limiting the number of groups conducting surveys at any given time. Some examples for station rotations, including learning objectives, are available along with additional resources in our Student Directions and Day-of-Survey Guide. 

Taking Pictures (optional)

We recommend taking photos of the transect looking towards the back barrier, all debris items found within a transect grouped together, and items that are too large to be included in a grouped photo. Each time you complete a Survey Coversheet before beginning the survey, take site photos while standing at the start and end point of the site (at 0 and 100 meters) looking toward the center of the site. To see examples and guidance on taking photos, see the Shoreline Survey Guide, pages 11-12.

Cleaning Up and Disposing of Collected Debris

Although you are only collecting data on debris found within the survey transects, you can clean up debris from the entire area! This is optional, but always a good idea if time and conditions allow. 

Cross-Curricular Concept: Why do we only record debris within the survey transects? It would take a lot of work to sample the whole 100 meters of the site, so we ask participants to survey four random sections, called transects. The survey process needs to be the same everywhere, and it’s simply not possible to collect all of the data all of the time. To keep things manageable for small groups and individuals, we use transects to make sure we know exactly the amount of area we’re surveying each time to collect data on the amount of debris per meter.  

After collecting debris from your transects and any other areas, you will need to dispose of it appropriately. See the "Planning to Dispose of Collected Debris" section of Before the First Survey: Site Selection and Preparation for more information on factors to consider when disposing of your debris. You can revisit those conversations on the beach as you prepare to dispose of your debris, adding new context around the exact material types you have collected. 

Discussion Starters - Debris Disposal

Discuss specific concerns around item or material types collected in your survey/cleanup.
  • Did you find any materials that can be recycled? You can broaden this conversation by considering whether the materials you’ve collected could have been recycled before they became marine debris, or whether they can be effectively recycled now (e.g., if they are clean or undamaged), as well as whether sufficient recycling facilities are present in your community.
  • Did you find any materials that can be reused? What could you reuse them for? 
  • How do the items you’ve collected appear? Do they look the way you would expect? Are they faded, broken, brittle, or otherwise changed by the environment? If so, how do you think this happened? If not, why? 

Discuss specific concerns focused on natural and human communities around your survey site.

  • Did you find any hazardous or otherwise dangerous materials or items? If so, please be sure you contact relevant local authorities. You can learn more about handling potentially hazardous debris on the Marine Debris Handling Guide web page. How could these items pose unique threats to local natural or human communities? 
  • Was your survey location near any densely populated areas? How could this community be impacted by the amount or types of debris found at your site? How could the debris you found at the site be impacted by the proximity to these areas? 
  • Was your survey site near any protected or sensitive natural areas? How could these areas be impacted by the amount or types of debris found at your site? How could the proximity of these natural areas impact the debris you found at the site?

Finishing the Survey

  • Clean up markers and any other supplies brought to prevent contributing any debris.
  • Use the notes to document anything of interest or unusual including debris from outside the transect, items smaller than 2.5cm, or other observations.
Teacher Tip: Celebrate a job well done! Some ideas for great, low-waste celebrations include: 
  • Sharing class shoutouts or gratitude.
  • Classroom rewards for outstanding students, students who collect the most debris, or most unusual item collected.
  • Playing a game or other fun activity on the beach, being sure to avoid any sensitive or potentially dangerous areas.
Last updated Wed, 03/06/2024 - 18:50