Quantifying temporal trends in anthropogenic litter in a rocky intertidal habitat
2020
Abstract Most monitoring studies of marine anthropogenic debris have focused on sandy beaches, so little is known about litter on rocky shorelines. We surveyed litter trapped on a rocky intertidal shore in False Bay, South Africa, between May 2015 and March 2018. An exceptional upwelling of seabed litter occurred in November 2017 (70 items∙m−1). Excluding this event, monthly clean-ups at spring low tide collected 2 (1.3–3.1) items∙m−1∙month−1 and 31 (19.4–49.4) g∙m−1∙month−1 of which 74% was plastic (31% by mass). Litter loads peaked in autumn when seasonal rains washed litter into False Bay, suggesting that most litter comes from local land-based sources. Litter composition differed from that on a nearby sandy beach, with more glass and other dense items on the rocky shore, but 60% of plastic items floated in water. Sand inundation and biotic interactions helped to trap buoyant plastics in the intertidal zone.
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