engleski

Marine litter – accumulation hot spots on the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea

In the last few decades all around the globe, and so the Adriatic region is not excluded, there have been a remarkable growing problem with marine litter, specially of plastic origin. Around 80% of marine litter originates from the mainland and is usually brought to the sea by wind (eg. from the landfills), rivers, sewage discharges, waste industrial water or is deliberately thrown into the sea. It is of great importance to identify pollution hot spots and sensitive areas in order to prioritize the location of efforts to reduce marine litter. The highest litter densities on the croatian part of the Adriatic were observed in areas that are under great influence of human activities in the populated coastal areas (aquatorium around cities Split, Trogir, Dubrovnik, Pula) and around famous nautical tourist destination (Kornati islands, Brijuni, Telašćica). Channel waters are loaded with greater variety of litter mostly derived from nearby mainland, while the more distant areas are mainly dominated by plastics originating from the neighboring countries. Plastic materials float and takes longer to sink to the seabed and its distribution primarily depends on the currents. Occasionaly large quantities of floating litter are discharged with Neretva river due to uncontrolled dumping yards. On the southern shores of peninsula Pelješac and islands Mljet, Korčula, Lastovo and Vis, due to geographical position and orientation towards the currents, winds and waves, the appearance of large amounts of litter is observed repeatedly, particularly massive one in 2010. In addition to the general surface cyclonic circulation in the Adriatic, occurs several cyclonic gears, of which the most prominent are those in south and central Adriatic. Both areas, especially Jabuka pit, are significant fishing area and important routes of maritime transport. Therefore, we can assume that the fishing and merchant ships are the main source of industrial waste. According to unpublished data, seabed of Jabuka and south Adratic Pit are rather polluted with marine litter.

Adriatic; marine litter; accumulation hot spots

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