Marine Litter Survey at the Major Sea Turtle Nesting Islands in the Arabian Gulf Using In-Situ and Remote Sensing Methods

In the northwestern Arabian Gulf, the offshore islands of Jana and Karan are the major nesting sites of sea turtles. Continued litter pollution may clog the beaches of the islands and hamper nesting activities and hatchling emergence success. We examined the distribution of marine litter on Jana and Karan islands using a combination of in-situ beach litter survey and remote sensing satellite technologies. Results showed that the western portions of the islands receive the most significant amount of marine litter. The dominant debris type were plastic bottles by count and processed wood by weight. Jana island had relatively higher number of plastic bottles than Karan island. The vegetation line accumulated more significant amount of marine debris compared to the beach zone and the within vegetation zone. Debris was also observed deep into the islands. Plastic Index (PI) from Sentinel-2 was better in detecting a 19m-by-19m test plastic sheet than Floating Debris Index. The potential of PI was tested at Jana and Karan islands but require further studies to detect scattered macroplastics.