Beach litter sourcing: a trawl along the Northern Ireland coastline

Williams, A.T., Randerson, P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2744-3122, Allen, C. and Cooper, J.A.G. 2017. Beach litter sourcing: a trawl along the Northern Ireland coastline. Marine Pollution Bulletin 122 (1-2) , pp. 47-64. 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.05.066

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Abstract

Fourteen non-recreational coastal locations in Northern Ireland were investigated as to whether beach litter deposition was related to seasonal or site specific factors. Litter items were counted in 100 m width transects and 1 km strand-line surveys over a five-season period (autumn to autumn). Survey sites comprised fishing ports; estuarine areas, north (high energy) and east coast (low energy) beaches. Fishing ports accumulated the most litter. In the 100 m beach surveys, plastics, string and cord, bottle caps, food items, rope, and drink containers dominated. In strand-line surveys, large plastic pieces were dominant, followed by rope, string and cord, strapping bands (absent on beach surveys), cloth, wood (mainly pallets, fish boxes) and metal items. Multivariate analyses revealed major litter category differences between the ports and all other sites, with a lesser distinction between exposed and estuarine sites. There was no simple coastline trend and no apparent effect of seasonality between samples. Previous article

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Biosciences
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0025-326X
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	28 July 2020
Date of Acceptance:	29 May 2017
Last Modified:	09 Oct 2023 18:33
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/132590

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