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Composition of Floating Marine Litter in Port Areas of the Island of Mallorca
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Researchers examined floating marine litter composition in two Mallorca port areas using seabin devices over May–September 2021, collecting 15,899 items and 336 kg of litter and finding that microplastics dominated at 60.8% of all collected material, with seasonal peaks in May and significantly higher collection in Port de Cristo.
The paper examines the sampling effectiveness of seabin devices and the composition of floating marine litter in port areas. Sampling was carried out from May to September 2021 in Port of Cristo and Port of Colonia de Sant Jordi on Mallorca Island, Spain. This is the first study of the composition of floating marine litter in the ports of Mallorca collected by seabin devices. During the study, 15,899 items and 336 kg of litter were collected and analyzed. The results indicate that seabin effectively collects floating litter from sea surfaces different in size (2 mm to 40 cm). Microplastics (60.8%) were the most commonly found litter, followed by soft plastic items > 5 mm (11.6%) and unidentified hard plastic items > 5 mm (9.6%). Significantly more marine litter was collected in the Port of Cristo (78.6%), compared to the collection of one device in the Port of Colonia de Sant Jordi (21.4%). Time series analysis showed that the average seasonal component was highest in May (68% above baseline). The linear time trend with an R2 of 52.25% indicated the acceptable significance of the model.
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