Marine litter is a growing problem in the Mediterranean Sea, but few studies have focused on its composition, spatial distribution and temporal evolution.
Marine litter is a growing problem in the Mediterranean Sea, but few studies have focused on its composition, spatial distribution and temporal evolution. Now, a new study reveals that, in Spanish waters, plastics are the main component and that density is higher in the Alboran Sea than in the Levantine region or Catalonia, where accumulation has remained stable.
Any human-made solid object that ends up in the sea is considered marine debris. Waste can reach water and the coast in different ways: deliberately abandoned by people, inadvertently lost at sea or transported by rivers, drains, sewage systems or winds.
After an 11-year study, a team of scientists from the University of Alicante and the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (Spanish acronym: IEO) in Murcia has analyzed the composition, distribution and evolution of marine litter in the Spanish Mediterranean within 45,259 km2 including the Alboran Sea, Alboran Island, the Valencia and the Tramontana regions.
Read more at FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology
Photo: Marine litter collected by fishermen in the fishing grounds located between Alicante and Cabo de Palos. CREDIT: Santiago García Rivera
