Abundance and composition of marine litter around Gökçeada Island (Northern Aegean Sea)

Abstract

Marine debris are frequently studied on beaches and occasionally in coastal waters, but links between these two environments have rarely been studied. Litter items were collected by hand in the Gökçeada beaches supralittoral zone, consisting of sandy or rocky beaches, and collected from subtidal areas between 50–450 m depth range on the continental shelf with bottom trawling. Collected litter were sorted and categorized by type, usage and origin. On the beaches, litter density varied from 0.1 to 22.1 items per 100 m2. Plastic materials dominated the composition of waste materials (59%) followed by soft plastic, nylon (11.5%). Eight percent of litter was of foreign in origin coming from two countries (Greece and Bulgaria). Offshore, during 32 hauls only 12 items were collected, and the number of debris ranged from 0 to 1.6 items km−2. Gökçeada Island should be further monitored in order to develop regional marine litter management solutions.

Benthic marine litter in the Marmara Sea, Turkey

“…However, higher benthic litter density is featured in the studies performed in the Black Sea (Topçu ve Öztürk, 2010;Erüz et al, 2022). Among all the studies conducted in the Turkish waters, the lowest benthic litter density has been recorded around the Gökçeada Island, the Northeastern Aegean Sea Gönülal et al (2016). This may have stemmed from a relatively lower population and the absence of industrial facilities on the Gökçeada Island.…”

“…The studies were mostly centred around the Mediterranean coasts of Turkey Mutlu et al, 2020;Olguner et al, 2018;Gündoğdu et al, 2017;Eryaşar et al, 2014). Erüz et al (2022) and Topçu and Öztürk (2010) have conducted a research study in the Black Sea and Gönülal et al (2016) in the vicinity of the Gökçeada (Imbros) Island, the North Aegean Sea. A similar sampling method was used in these two studies (Table 4).…”

“…Some published data are also available about the neighboring seas. Topçu and Öztürk (2010) have studied the Western Black Sea and Gönülal et al (2016) have researched the vicinity of the Gökçeada Island, Northeastern Aegean Sea. In most of these studies, benthic marine litter abundance is determined with a swept area of bottom trawl sampling.…”

Investigation of Anionic Detergent and Phosphate Pollution in the Coastal Surface Water of Gökçeada

“…Bu bölgede bugüne kadar oşinografik, biyolojik verimlilik ve mikrobiyolojik kirlilik alanlarındaki çalışmalara ait raporlar bulunmaktadır [11]- [37]. Çalışma alanından alınan midyelerde (Mytilus galloprovincialis) polisiklik aromatik hidrokarbonların (PAH) belirlendiği [38], deniz çöplerinin incelendiği [39]…”

“…Bu bölgede bugüne kadar oşinografik, biyolojik verimlilik ve mikrobiyolojik kirlilik alanlarındaki çalışmalara ait raporlar bulunmaktadır [11]- [37]. Çalışma alanından alınan midyelerde (Mytilus galloprovincialis) polisiklik aromatik hidrokarbonların (PAH) belirlendiği [38], deniz çöplerinin incelendiği [39] çalışmalar ve çalışma alanına yakın olarak Türk Boğazlar Sistemi'nin giriş ve çıkışındaki deterjan değerlerinin karşılaştırıldığı çalışma [40] dışında Gökçeada civarında kimyasal kirlilik kapsamında deterjan kirliliğine ait bir çalışma bulunmamaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı Gökçeada çevresinde farklı istasyonlardaki deterjan konsantrasyonlarına ait değerlerin bir yıl boyunca mevsimsel değişimini izlemek ve sonraki çalışmalar için zemin oluşturmaktır.…”