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Use of ROV for assessing marine litter on the seafloor of Saronikos Gulf (Greece): a way to fill data gaps and deliver environmental education
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Researchers used a remotely operated underwater vehicle to survey marine litter on the seafloor of the Saronikos Gulf in Greece, finding that plastics and metals dominated the debris they recorded. The study also involved schoolchildren in the research cruise as part of an environmental education initiative within the PERSEUS project.
A visual census of marine litter on the seafloor of the Saronikos Gulf (Greece) is presented in the current work. The abundance and qualitative composition of benthic marine litter were investigated in two selected locations of the Saronikos Gulf with a Remote Operated Vehicle, where other sampling strategies couldn't be implemented. The assessment of marine litter was combined with environmental education within the PERSEUS (FP7) Research Project, in a novel 2-day research cruise where schoolchildren actively participated. Two transects of total length 2.36 km were carried out. A relevant marine litter protocol was developed where marine litter was categorized into six different categories according to their material type and where possible, the source of the items was identified. Plastics (55 %) and metals (36 %) had the biggest share among the recorded marine litter items. Marine litter proved to be an ideal theme in order to enhance the environmental awareness of schoolchildren.
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