The abundance of Plastic Marine Debris on Beaches in Ambon Bay

Abstract

Marine plastic pollution is one of the most serious problems in the marine environment. In this study we determined the abundance of plastic marine debris (large microplastic [1-5 mm] mesoplastic [5-25 mm] and macroplastic [>25 mm] on 2 beaches in Ambon Bay. The sampling was conducted during March 2018 using quadrats of 2 sizes. Macroplastics were sampled using large quadrats measuring 5 × 5m. Small quadrats measuring 0.5 x 0.5 m were used to collect large microplastics and mesoplastics. The respective abundances of large micro-(1-5 mm), meso-(5-25 mm) and macroplastic (>25 mm) were 68.8, 5, and 0.722 items.m−2. The highest abundance of marine plastic debris was found in the inner Ambon Bay. The results indicated a strong contribution of water mass circulation within Ambon Bay to the distribution of plastic debris abundance throughout the Bay.