About

The Deep Dive method has been created as a complementary tool to established protocols for analysing beach litter, such as the OSPAR and Ocean Conservancy Protocol Ocean, that give useful information at a global and regional level, but have some limitations in guiding preventive measures at a local level. Deep Dive method will provide a better understanding of the sources of- and reasons behind litter ending up on Arctic shores. This portal will assist your beach litter Deep Dive. Additionally, it will promote dialogue with stakeholders to identify possible intervention points to prevent litter from entering the oceans.

While the next sections will give you some tips and provide useful links on the process as a whole, the main focus of the webpage is related to the specific litter categories typically found on Arctic beaches that give useful information about the sources of- and reasons behind items ending up as litter. The interactive tools developed for analysing beach litter will guide you through your Deep Dive.

What is a Deep Dive?

The Deep Dive beach litter analysis involves identifying the type, country of provenance and age of household, food, oil and chemical containers. Specific items associated with fishing activity are also identified and an in-depth analysis of nets is conducted to document likely intentional discards. Given that fisheries items dominate litter in the Arctic, items from this activity have been given a particular focus. The system is free to use by entities and individuals, such as researchers, students and educational institutions.

This website provides a step-by-step guide for conducting your very own Deep Dive analysis. Depending on the amount of material you want to analyse, this usually takes one to three days. The process can be completed by a team of researchers, students, or other interested people. To gain further insight or make greater impact, organizers of a Deep Dive can add a stakeholder session. Here you can invite members of the fishing community, other relevant industries, government leaders and policymakers to get further insight into why waste ends up at sea and identify preventive measures.

The data gathered from a Deep Dive analysis can be uploaded to the data portal, which generates a summary report that will be publicly available. Raw data from the Deep Dives is available for download to the public, with an option to set a 2-year delay to allow for scientific publication of results.

Deep Dive is using the citizen science protocol of Ocean Conservancy as a starting point to provide context around litter. Central items from the OSPAR protocol (OSPAR 2010), as well as items identified as important through deep dive analysis in the Arctic, are added to this.

Who is the Deep Dive system for?

While this website can be used by anyone interested in understanding the beach litter problem better, the main target groups are students, researchers and other actors interested in obtaining in-depth knowledge about how to conduct beach litter research. The portal is developed with Arctic conditions in mind.

Who developed Deep Dive?

SALT, an independent consultancy based in northern Norway, developed the Deep Dive method. SALT collaborated with GRID-Arendal, a non-profit environmental communications centre in southern Norway, to make the Deep Dive method publicly available through this website.