Abundance and transport of macro-litter at sea turtle nesting beach: A case study for sustainable habitat management

Abstract

In the last few decades, the worldwide production and usage of plastic have increased substantially. As a consequence, a major proportion of the mismanaged plastic is leaking from the land (source) to the sea (sink) affecting the marine environment in the form of emerging contaminants. Along the east coast of India, the sandy beaches adjacent to River Rushikulya support the winter mass nesting of Olive Ridley Sea turtles. The present study assesses the beach litter density (items/m2), composition (%), probable sources, and transport pathway prior to the nesting event. Sampling was carried out at four transects covering a 400 m2 area during low tide, aggregates to 890 litter materials of 15 categories. The Clean Coast Index (CCI) shows the maximum density (moderately clean to dirty) of litter observed along the backshore and the minimum (very clean) on the foreshore. The particle tracking model carried out for two seasons i.e., southwest and northeast monsoon infers that the transporting time of the litter from river to beach varied between 3–4 and 6–7 days, respectively. Our study suggests most of the debris accumulated on the nesting beaches after the monsoonal flood. Thus, it is recommended that cleaning the beaches by engaging local fishermen prior to the nesting, installing trash booms, and managing solid wastes in the river upstream, are some of the doable, effective, and best management practices that need to be adopted for sustainable management of this turtle rookery habitat.