Global Review of Beach Debris Monitoring and Future Recommendations

Abstract

Marine debris is distributed worldwide and constitutes an increasing threat to our environment. The exponential increase of plastic debris raises numerous concerns and has led to an intensification in plastic monitoring and research. However, global spatial and temporal patterns and knowledge gaps in debris distribution, both on land and at sea, are relatively poorly understood, mainly due to a lack of comprehensive datasets. Here we critically review the quality of the available information on beach plastic debris worldwide to highlight where the most urgent actions are required, and to promote the standardization of reporting metrics and sampling methods among researchers. From a total of 174 studies evaluated, 27.0% reported marine debris densities in metrics that were not comparable. Some studies failed to report basic parameters, such as the date of the sampling (9.8%) or the size of the collected debris (19.5%). Our findings show that current research regarding beach debris requires significant improvement and standardization and would benefit from the adoption of a common reporting framework to promote consensus within the scientific community.

Connecting to the oceans: supporting ocean literacy and public engagement

“…Plastic pollution, in particular, is a marine issue that has gained attention across the planet. For example, in 2015, Henderson Island in the South Pacific made headlines as ‘the most polluted place on the planet’ 1 this media uptake significantly piqued public awareness of ocean plastic pollution and the island was subsequently extensively studied by scientists (Lavers and Bond 2017 ; Serra-Gonçalves et al 2019 ). This media and resulting public interest in Henderson Island, and other instances of research and media communicating the effects of ocean plastic pollution around the world (Beaumont et al 2019 ; Gibbs et al 2019 ; van der Mheen et al 2019 ), demonstrate the speed at which ocean knowledge can be shared with society, thereby increasing public understanding of emerging and relevant marine issues and research (Principle 9) and marine stewardship.…”

Factors (type, colour, density, and shape) determining the removal of marine plastic debris by seabirds from the South Pacific Ocean: Is there a pattern?

“…Plastic debris is widely dispersed throughout the world's ocean (Andrady, 2011;Barnes, Galgani, Thompson, & Barlaz, 2009;Cole, Lindeque, Halsband, & Galloway, 2011;Cózar et al, 2014;Eriksen et al, 2014;Maximenko, Hafner, & Niiler, 2012;Serra-Gonçalves, Lavers, & Bond, 2019). Most plastic debris is of terrestrial origin, with inputs from coastal regions of all continents (Hardesty, Lawson, van der Velde, Lansdell, & Wilcox, 2017;Ivar do Sul & Costa, 2007;McIlgorm, Campbell, & Rule, 2011).…”

Sources, spatial distribution and characteristics of marine litter along the west coast of Qatar

“…Marine litter (ML) is a major threat to the safety and health of global marine ecosystems (Serra-Goncalves et al, 2019). ML consists of any manufactured or processed solid material that was discarded or transported into the marine environment (Jeftic et al, 2009;EC JRC, 2013).…”