Characteristics of meso-sized plastic marine debris on 20 beaches in Korea

Abstract

We surveyed the abundance and accumulation patterns of mesoplastic marine debris (5-25 mm) on 20 beaches in Korea. The mean abundance of it was 13.2 items/m(2), and the mean weight was 1.5 g/m(2). Hard plastic and Styrofoam were the dominant types. The proportions of hard plastic and Styrofoam were highly variable among the beaches, each accounting for 0-100% of the total debris on a given beach with 32% and 48.5% (by number) on average, respectively. Relatively lower abundances of mesoplastic marine debris compared with our previous studies were likely due by differences of the sampling areas within the beach. The samples of this research were selected from backshore, middle line, and water edge whereas they were selected from high strandline and backshore in our previous studies. It should be considered when discussing the level of mesoplastic marine debris.