Seasonal investigation of marine debris on sandy beaches in Trabzon and Rize

The aim of this study was to determine the seasonal types and amounts of marine litter on the beaches of Çayeli, Sürmene, Kaşüstü, Yıldızlı on the Eastern Black Sea coast of Turkey between November 2022 and July 2023. At each beach, litter larger than 2 cm was collected from an area of 100 x 10 m at 2 m intervals parallel to the sea. The collected litter was classified and quantified according to UNEP. In total, 3183 pieces of litter weighing 53.51 kg were collected from all stations in one year. The ratios of the collected solid waste per m2 are as follows: Çayeli 0.24 pieces/m2, Sürmene 0.21 pieces/m2, Yıldızlı 0.13 pieces/m2 and Kaşüstü Beach 0.18 pieces/m2. The most common type of waste in all stations is plastic waste. Cigarette butts are the most abundant type of plastic waste collected. When the clean clear index calculations are analysed according to the periods, Çayeli beach is medium and clean, Sürmene beach is clean, very clean and medium clean, Yomra-Kaşüstü beach is clean, Akçaabat-Yıldızlı beach is clean, very clean and clean.