engleski

The occurrence of microplastic debris in the sea surface and on the beaches of middle Adriatic Sea, Croatia

In this study, microplastic particles were quantified for the first time in Croatian part of Adriatic Sea for different sea compartments, while all previous research were based on large items of marine litter. The aim of this study was to provide information about microplastics abundance and composition in investigated area. Middle Adriatic Sea represents one of most frequent zone in Croatia regarding tourism, fisheries and maritime traffic. Southern part of the area is under strong influence of Neretva River, with significant waste inputs from land. In October 2014, five samples from sea surface on Neretva outflow were taken as well as five transects from beach placed in vicinity of the river outflow. Sea surface samples were taken during the autumn 2014 and spring 2015 in the channel waters around Split archipelago. Five samples were taken in each season on the same locations. Seasonal occurrences of microplastic were compared in each of those five locations. The main goal was detection of microplastic presence and quantity in fishery important area. Beach sediment samples were taken from two touristic beaches. One of these placed in Split (Bačvice Beach), the biggest town on Croatian coast, representing one of most popular touristic beach. Another beach (Zaglav Beach) is located on the island of Vis, one of most distant islands from the Croatian coast, exposed to southern winds and influenced by open sea currents. These two beaches were processed before and during the touristic season 2014. In each sampling survey were collected five transects for two different microplastic sizes, large microparticles (1-5mm) and small microparticls (<1mm). The sediment material from sandy beaches was collected from the high water line. Concentration of microplastic on beaches can be related with different influence of urban activities, sea currents and winds according to season. Both sea surface samples and beach sediment samples were laboratory processed and microparticles were extracted. Separated microparticles were counted and sorted by color and category. Microplastic items were classified in six categories: plastic fragments, films, filaments, foamed plastic and plastic pellets. The density of microplastic in sea surface samples were expressed by square meters and beach samples were quantified per volume unit.

microplastic; sea surface; beach; Adriatic Sea

nije evidentirano