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Composition, sources, abundance and seasonality of Marine Litter in the Çakalburnu lagoon coast of Aegean Sea
Summary
Researchers assessed marine litter composition, sources, and abundance across seasons on the Çakalburnu Lagoon coast of the Turkish Aegean Sea, finding plastics and mixed packaging dominated the debris load at 0.64 items/m² and that seasonal variation influenced both the type and source of litter accumulation.
The Aegean Sea is one of the most contaminated by marine litter (ML) in the World. In this study, the Turkish Aegean Region was evaluated in light of the sources, abundance and composition of ML along Çakalburnu Lagoon coast. Macroscopic ML with > 3 cm was collected and separated into composition and sources categories. ML abundance was calculated by its density in items/m (Mean ± SD). Beach cleanliness was evaluated according to Clean-Coast Index (CCI). Seasonality was found as factor for ML composition, sources and abundance at Çakalburnu coast. Plastic was the most abundant material, followed by unidentifiable items. The major sources of ML were mixed packaging, domestic and fisheries activities. The mean ML density was 0.64 ± 0.09 items/m. Çakalburnu coast was classified as during all seasons. Therefore, ML contamination on Çakalburnu coast represent a potential threat to coastal and marine environments. Thus, the present study can serve as a base for the elaboration of mitigating actions urgently needed at Çakalburnu Lagoon.