Fragmented marine plastics as the prevalent litter type on a small island beach in the Adriatic

Abstract

The issue of plastic pollution has dramatically intensified in the recent years. Our study investigates extensive plastic contamination of a sandy beach on a small Adriatic island. The beach was sampled on three occasions, in 2013, 2020 and 2022, using 1 m2 quadrats placed along the lower and upper strandlines, resulting in average litter concentrations of 385 ± 106, 1095 ± 522 and 129 ± 37 item m−2, respectively. The lower size limit of collected litter was 1 mm, thus including large microplastics. Plastic fragments (49–74 %) and plastic pellets (15 %–37 %) were predominant litter categories. The proportion of fragments is significantly higher during the tourist season with a more intensive cleaning regime (April–October), as opposed to the off-season (November–March). Fisheries and aquaculture litter was identified as a relevant source of pollution. More research is needed in the future into the microplastics smaller than 1 mm.