Beach macro-litter monitoring on southern Baltic beaches: results, experiences and recommendations

Abstract

Major objectives were to provide a comprehensive dataset on beach macro-litter for parts of the southern Baltic Sea and to analyse if the methodology is fully applicable and a suitable monitoring method in the Baltic. We carried out a regular macro litter beach monitoring (OSPAR methodology, 4 time a year) on 35 beaches along the German and Lithuanian Baltic coast over 2-5 years. Additional experiments addressed the subjectivity of the field surveys and spatio-temporal variability on different scales. We observed no seasonality of the data and a monthly compared to a 3-monthly sampling resulted in 3 times higher annual item numbers. Along the Lithuanian coast, the average number of items per survey varied between 138 and 340 and along the German Baltic coast between 7 and 404, with a median value of 47. All data showed a very high spatio-temporal variability. Using the Matrix Scoring Technique we assessed beach litter sources. With 50% tourism and recreation was the most important source. 3D-transport simulations helped to explain the minor role of shipping as a source and, compared to the North Sea, the low numbers of items on German Baltic beaches. Floating litter had a short duration time in the western Baltic Sea and offshore drift dominated. Further, the common regular beach cleanings reduced the potential for local litter accumulation and translocation. We suggest a monitoring system on 14 Baltic beaches in Germany and 2 in Lithuania and provide cost calculations. The analysis of macro-litter in cormorant nesting material and the search for beached dead animals did not show any result. We can conclude that the macro-litter beach monitoring method is less suitable for Baltic beaches and should only serve as a complementary method in combination with others.

Marine Litter Pollution in Baltic Sea Beaches – Application of the Sand Rake Method

“…The most common polymer types (PE, PP, and PS) and their percentages (39, 26.1, and 18.3% respectively) are comparable to previous studies (Hidalgo-Ruz et al, 2012;Urban-Malinga et al, 2020). The high amounts of cigarette butts (15.3%) are a known problem at the Baltic beaches (Schernewski et al, 2017;Veiga et al, 2016) and paraffin occurs regularly on beaches of the Curonian spit (Esiukova, 2016). Lower amounts of paper/cardboard, glass/ceramics, metal and other categories are in line with former results (Marlin, 2013).…”

“…Here, the "touristic beaches" are located in communities where the governmental statistical services indicate between 0.14 and 2.40 million overnight stays occur per year (Statistisches Amt Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 2018; Statistisches Amt für Hamburg und Schleswig-Holstein, 2018). For the second scenario, the costs of sand rake monitoring at 14 beaches suggested for the OSPAR method (see Schernewski et al, 2017) were calculated ( Figure 5). For both scenarios, the costs of one year of monitoring with a seasonal approach with four surveys (summer, autumn, winter, spring) were calculated.…”

“…This 'naked eye' OSPAR method is carried out on rural and unmanaged beaches of the North-East Atlantic (Schulz et al, 2017) and at Baltic Sea beaches (Balčiūnas and Blažauskas, 2014;LUNG M-V, 2015). However, this method is less suitable for many Baltic Sea beaches (Schernewski et al, 2017) because many of them are managed and cleaned and therefore do not meet the OSPAR criteria for the selection of reference beaches. Additionally, an increase in public awareness leads to more beach litter collections (by locals, non-government organizations, beach users, etc.)…”

Opportunistically collected data from aerial surveys reveal spatio-temporal distribution patterns of marine debris in German waters

“…The introduction of a similarly significant amount of larger items is likely and may explain the higher AER (total debris) in the southern North Sea which was also shown in earlier evaluations (Dixon and Dixon 1983 ). In the Baltic Sea, objects entering from land-based sources will rather soon be washed up on beaches close by (Schernewski et al 2017 ). Therefore, a contribution of land-based sources to floating marine debris accumulated offshore is less rather likely for the Baltic Sea.…”

Pollution by anthropogenic litter of the shores of inside coastal waters by example of the Vistula Lagoon on the Baltic Sea

“…Мониторинг пляжей указывает на изменчивость как количества, так и распределения и состава мусора. Не установлено четких пространственных или временных тенденций распределения мусора [1]. Антропогенный мусор мигрирует вдоль пляжей: течения и волны уносят мусор с берега, перемещают его на большие расстояния, и выносят обратно на пляж через десятки и сотни километров.…”