Deflated balloons and whales may have more in common than you think. According to a new GIS map, they are likely to be found in the same locations in the Gulf of Maine.

The map, created by Shane Bradt, UNH Cooperative Extension specialist in geospatial technologies, provides a visual connection between the areas that some whales travel off the N.H. coast and the location of litter floating nearby.

With funds provided by the N.H. Coastal Program, the map relies in part on data collected during the whale-watch cruises conducted by the Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation from May to October each year.

While out on the whale-watch vessels, volunteers record sightings and locations of four finback whales -- Comet, Fjord, Ladder, and Trigger -- and four humpback whales -- Pinball, Satula, Flask, and Owl (all animals available for "adoption" from the Blue Ocean Society). Scientists using underwater sonar and fishermen at sea report debris types and locations. All the whale- and trash-location data are entered into the project's database.

Map offers visual evidence that human trash invades marine habitat

To keep the map simpler and easier to use, Bradt chose to highlight the top five most commonly encountered debris types -- balloons, bottles, cans, plastic bags and wrappers -- that together account for 80 percent of the debris recorded.

"People can relate to these types of debris because they use them in daily life," Bradt says.

The map's various data layers can be turned off and on to select locations of individual whales each year and trash type by month. However, Jen Kennedy, executive director of the Blue Ocean Society, points out that the map doesn't necessarily indicate that whales directly encountered the marine debris, but rather that their locations could overlap. Kennedy and Bradt hope eventually to improve the map to include direct whale encounters with debris.

"This map really shows the personal connection between how we dispose of our trash and the impacts that can have on marine life, including whales," says Kennedy. "We hope this map will make people more aware of their actions and help improve the marine environment."

Kennedy and Bradt say that the GIS map may appeal to the general public and to teachers who can use it in their lesson plans. Bradt encourages online site visitors to take the virtual tour by clicking on the links at the top of the page for instruction on how to use the map more easily and effectively.

The map is an offshoot of the N.H. Marine Debris-to-Energy Project, an effort funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Debris Program that seeks to remove derelict fishing gear and human-generated trash that washes out to sea.

Project has collected 36 tons of abandoned fishing gear, 12 tons of trash

Since the the project began three years ago, hundreds of beach cleanups along the Seacoast have collected approximately 36 tons of derelict fishing gear (buoys, fishing line, lobster pots and nets, etc.) and 12 tons of trash.

The recovered debris is placed in marked dumpsters and burned for energy in a Wheelabrator Technologies' waste-to-energy plant in Massachusetts. N.H. Sea Grant and UNH Cooperative Extension are collaborating with the non-profit Blue Ocean Society to help facilitate the program's progress in the Granite State.

For more information, please visit the N.H. Marine Debris to Energy website or the blog, or contact Shane Bradt at shane.bradt@unh.edu or 603.862.4277 or Jen Kennedy at jen@blueoceansociety.org or 603.431.0260.

Photo: The locations of whales (such as the finback whale Comet, pictured here) and floating trash spotted during the Blue Ocean Society's whale-watch cruises are recorded and provide the basis for a new GIS map.

Credit: Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation