Citizen science and community engagement for environmental monitoring and emergency response: Lessons from the MV X-Press Pearl ship disaster

The sinking and combustion of the MV X-Press Pearl in May 2021 caused severe marine pollution, releasing toxic materials and billions of plastic nurdles. Nurdle pollution threatens sensitive coastal habitats and negatively impacts social welfare. This study aimed to 1) conduct a citizen science program to quantify nurdle distribution during the disaster, and 2) evaluate the societal impact, attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions in the disaster's aftermath. Results derived via the citizen science study indicated that Colombo, Gampaha and Puttalam districts to be hotspot areas with the highest nurdle densities of 50,789 +/- 1139 m(-2), 48,107 +/- 3408 m(-2) and 33,231 +/- 689 m(-2), respectively. Results from the public perception survey showed that the majority (80 %) of the respondents were affected by the incident. Over 70 % of the survey participants were either not satisfied or neutral towards the compensation provided for livelihood loss. Nearly 60 % took a neutral stance when questioned about the country's readiness to respond to marine disasters.