Assessment of marine litter on Saraykoy beach of Rize

Marine litter is an important environmental problem in the semi-enclosed Black Sea. Marine litter have been accumulating in the coastal and the marine environment and threat ecologically and socioeconomically to Black Sea ecosystem. Marine litter was surveyed in 100 m section of the Sarayköy Beach (Rize) in the Southeastern Black Sea following OSPAR beach monitoring guide between June 2016-March 2017. Types of litter, abundance, weight, possible sources, relation with meteorological condition and cleanness of beach were evaluated. During the study, 84 different types of litter were determined and a total of 17015 items weighing 168.9 kg were collected. Litter density ranged between 1.22-4.17 items.m-2 and 11.78-37.47 g.m-2. Plastics/polystyrenes were mostly from land-based sources and comprised 85-93 % of total litter. 92 % of total litter was identified as persistent-buoyant. The most common three types of litter were foam sponge (17%), 2.5-50 cm plastic/polystyrene pieces (15%) and lids (10%). Unidentified litter made up 22% of all litter followed by beverage (21%), food (19%) related and general packing (15%) items. Matrix Scoring Techniques showed river run off (22%), landfill/dumping (21%) and fisheries (17%) were the major sources of the litter. Foreign litter comprised 0.2% of all litter. Fouling organisms (individuals, colonies and eggs) belonging to Mollusca, Arthropoda and Bryozoa were observed on plastic/polystyrene litter in spring and summer. According to Clean Coast Index, beach was classified as very dirty. Plastics/ polystyrenes which can easily be carried to the sea by wind, transport to remote areas from sources by currents and break down to the micro- and nanoplastics might pose a big threat for Black Sea ecosystem.