Turk. J. Fish.& Aquat. Sci.

20(2), 137-145
http://doi.org/10.4194/1303-2712-v20_2_06

RESEARCH PAPER

Beach Litter on Sarayköy Beach (SE Black Sea): Density,

Composition, Possible Sources and Associated Organisms

Ulgen Aytan1,* , Fatma Başak Esensoy Sahin1, Furkan Karacan2

1
Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Faculty of Fisheries, 53100, Rize, Turkey.
2
Rize Directorate of Provincial Food Agriculture and Livestock, 53100, Rize, Turkey.

Article History Abstract

Received 17 September 2018
Accepted 13 February 2019
First Online 14 February 2019 The composition, density and possible sources of litter were seasonally
evaluated in a selected beach in the Southeastern Black Sea between June
2016 and March 2017. During the study, 84 different types of litter were
Corresponding Author determined and a total of 17015 items weighing 168.9 kg were collected.
Tel.: +904642233385 Litter density ranged between 1.22-4.17 items.m-2 and 11.78-37.47 gr.m-2.
E-mail: [email protected] Plastics comprised 84-91% of total litter. The most common three types of
litter were foam (17%), 2.5-50 cm plastic/polystyrene pieces (15%) and
caps/lids (10%). Fouling organisms found on litter belonged to Mollusca,
Keywords
Arthropoda and Bryozoa. Litter density showed significant seasonal
Plastic
Marine litter
differences with the highest in summer (P<0.05). Matrix Scoring Technique
Pollution showed that river runoff (22%), landfill/dumping (21%) and fisheries (18%)
MSFD were the major sources of the litter. According to Clean Coast Index, the
Black Sea beach was very dirty in all seasons. This study provides further evidence that
there is a significant litter pollution in the Southeastern Black Sea and that the
main component are plastics, which pose a great treat to Black Sea
environment. This call for a scientific understanding of the fate and effects of
plastics, as well as actions to reduce the amount of plastics entering Black Sea.

Introduction transported to distant locations from their sources

(Barnes, Galgani, Thompson & Barlaz 2009).
Marine litter (ML) is defined as any persistent, Consequently, ML can be found in all seas and beaches
processed or manufactured solid material (e.g. plastic, around the world, negatively affecting marine life,
metal, paper, wood, glass) discarded, disposed or human health, fishing, shipping and tourism industries
abandoned in the marine and coastal environment from and become one of the most prominent threat for the
land- or sea-based sources (UNEP, 2009). Over the last ocean (UNEP, 2005). Although promoting
decades, ML has been increasingly accumulating in the environmental education and responsible citizenship is
sea surface, water column, sea floor and beaches probably one of the most important strategies to reduce
(Galgani, Hanke & Maes, 2015). Plastic items are the the ML problem, there is a great need to monitor ML
most common litter, being associated to 60-80 % of ML pollution to improve our knowledge on the scale of the
(Derraik, 2002). Once they enter the marine problem.
environment, they continue to break down into smaller Black Sea is the largest anoxic basin in the world.
particles called microplastics (< 5mm) and can be High river discharge of several industrialized countries

Published by Central Fisheries Research Institute (SUMAE) Trabzon, Turkey in cooperation with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Japan
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Turk. J. Fish.& Aquat. Sci. 20(2), 137-145

into a semi-enclosed sea (Figure 1) makes this The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)
ecosystem highly vulnerable to pollution. ML is of European Commission aims the protection and
considered one of the most urgent and difficult sustainable use of marine ecosystems. Initial
environmental problem in the basin (BSC, 2007). Illegal assessment of status of litter is an important step to
dumping on river valleys or the seashore, uncontrolled determine Good Environmental Status (GES) and to
landfills and poor solid waste management are the most establish environmental targets and associated
important sources of litter in the Black Sea (BSC, 2007). indicators in the region. The aim of this study is to assess
Coastal cities, ports, intense fishing activities and the situation of beach litter in the SE Black Sea to
shipping are also other sources of ML. Plastic is reported support national and regional assessments of ML within
as the most abundant ML item from sea surface (Suaria, the scope of MSFD. The present study evaluates the
Melinte-Dobrinescu, Ion & Aliani 2015), sea floor (Topçu composition, amounts and sources, as well possible
& Öztürk, 2010; Moncheva et al., 2016; Öztekin & Bat, ecological impacts of ML on Sarayköy beach (RİZE) in the
2017a) and from beaches in the Black Sea (e.g. Topçu, SE Black Sea.
Tonay, Dede, Ozturk & Ozturk, 2013; Vişne & Bat, 2016;
Simeonova, Chuturkova, & Yaneva, 2017; Terzi & Materials and Methods
Seyhan, 2017). The most of the plastic originates on
land and river discharge is considered as the main Study site
conduct of plastic litter in the basin (BSC, 2007).
According to a recent study in the NW continental shelf, Seasonal assessment of beach litter was conducted
4.2 tons of plastics are generated daily by Danube in a selected beach in the SE Black Sea (location
(Lechner et al., 2014). Due to large-scale circulation 41º01’23’’N; 40º22’40’’E; sea facing 315º N) between
pattern of Black Sea, all these passive materials are likely June 2016 and March 2017 in a seasonal basis. The
to be distributed through the basin, continue to break beach is situated in Sarayköy village with a low
down and become a transboundary problem. population (148 citizens) and is 2 km east of İyidere town
Accordingly, recent researches highlight high (populated by 8657 citizens) and 13 km west of Rize city
concentrations of microplastics from Southern (Öztekin (populated by 331048 citizens) (TUIK, 2017). The nearest
& Bat, 2017b) and SE Black Sea surface waters (Aytan et stream (Ikizdere) is at 5.8 km west and the closest
al., 2016). Although the number of ML studies increased harbour (Port Rize) is at 11.,6 km east. The total length
during last decade in the Black Sea, ML is a complex- of the beach is 330 m with a 20±2 m width, slope of 20-
growing problem, and monitoring the ML to understand 30%, and consist of pebbles (100%). The back of the
the sources is crucial to take action to reduce its beach is a cliff with vegetation and in both sides of the
occurrence in the Black Sea.

Figure 1. Map showing countries, major cities (main land-based sources), hot spots of marine pollution (adapted from BSC, 2007
and Aytan et al., 2016), rivers (1 - Danube, 2 - Dniester, 3 - Bug, 4 - Dnieper and 5 - Don) that flow into the Black Sea basin, study
area (Sarayköy beach), bathymetry and a basic schematic representation of the Rim Current in the Black Sea.
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Turk. J. Fish.& Aquat. Sci. 20(2), 137-145

beach there are two large rock groins to prevent beach beach, Clean Coast Index (CCI) was calculated following
erosion. Beach is mainly used for swimming/sunbathing to formula CCI= (TL/TA)*K, where the TL is total litter
activities by local people between June and September. count on transect, TA is total area of transect, and K is a
In this period, there are two small beach coffees serving coefficient of 20. According to CCI, beach is ranked as
food and drinks. very clean (0-2), clean (2-5), moderate (5-10), dirty (10-
20) and very dirty (>20) (Alkalay, Pasternak & Zask
Sampling 2007).
To assess the relation between meteorological
Litter items were collected seasonally (June, condition and litter density, the wind speed, wind
October, December, and March) by five persons in 100 direction and precipitation were obtained from Turkish
m transect following standardized protocols of OSPAR Meteorological Services. For analyses of seasonal
for beach litter surveys (OSPAR, 2010). The whole area differences (non-parametric analyses of variance and
from the waterline to the back of the beach is surveyed post-hoc-tests), the ten most common litter items
(~ 20 m). A total of 83 different type of litter were comprising the ~ 80% of the total number of litter were
determined and categorised in to plastic/polystyrene, used as input data because the contribution of each
rubber, cloth, paper/cardboard, wood (machined), other items were < 1%.
metal, glass, pottery/ceramics, sanitary waste, medical
waste and others (unclassified) according to OSPAR Results
photo guide and one new litter item (pipes) was added.
All litter were counted and weighed. The number of item Density and Composition
in 100 m coast line was calculated. Abundance and
weight of litter were also calculated as items.m-2 and A total of 17015 (mean value: 3798±2546) items
g.m-2. The fouling organisms were identified to lowest resulting in 168.9 (mean value: 41.3±22.9) kg were
taxonomic level possible and recorded. Litter items with collected in 100 m of beach between June 2016 and
foreign labels were also recorded. According to March 2017. The average litter density in terms of
buoyancy characteristics, litter items were also number and weight were 2.10±1.38 items.m-2 and 21.11
categorised as persistent-buoyant, short-term-buoyant ±11.35 g. m-2, respectively (Table 1). The litter density
and non-buoyant litters (Rech et al., 2014). ranged between 1.22-4.2 items.m-2 and 12.28-37.7 g. m-
2
To assess the contribution of different sources and (Table 1). Litter density was significantly different
pathways to litter, Matrix Scoring Technique (Tudor & between seasons (one-way ANOVA, P<0.05; F (7.21) =
Williams, 2004) was used. The litter type, labelling, 2.86, P= 0.0006). Beach litter densities in summer were
distance to sources, location and the physical and significantly higher compare to autumn, winter and
geographical characteristic of beach, prevalent wind and spring (t-test, P<0.05).
current pattern, users-habit were considered. Possible From the 121 types of litter in OSPAR photo guide,
sources (tourism, sewage, landfill/dumping, river runoff, 83 types of litter items were found (data not shown) and
shipping, offshore, fishing) were scored as very likely a new common item was added (plastic pipes). The
(16), likely (4), possible (2), unlikely (1), very unlikely plastics (including fragments) were the most abundant
(0.25) and not considered (0). litter items in each season (1.1-3.8 items.m-2)
Mean values and standard deviations of representing 84 to 91% of total litter in terms of number
abundances of items, general categories and total beach (Table 1). The other litter categories represented low
litter were calculated for each seasons. Based on mean contribution (< 2%) (Figure 2). In terms of weigh, plastics
abundances, the top 10 items in terms of number and (including fragments) were again the most common
weight were identified. To determine cleanness of the items (6.78-28.99 g.m-2) representing 55 to 77% of total

Table 1. Seasonal and total densities of beach litter in the study area (items/m2 and g/m2)

Material Summer Autumn Winter Spring Mean (±SD)

items/m2 g/m2 items/m2 g/m2 items/m2 g/m2 items/m2 g/m2 items/m2 g/m2
Plastic/polystyrene 3.80 28.99 1.22 6.78 1.37 11.94 1.11 11.64 1.87 (1.28) 14.83 (9.73)
Rubber 0.01 0.29 0.004 0.08 0.01 0.12 0.01 0.14 0.01 (0.003) 0.16 (0.09)
Textile 0.06 2.50 0.02 1.54 0.03 2.80 0.01 0.84 0.03 (0.02) 1.92 (0.90)
Paper/cardboard 0.02 0.21 0.06 0.29 0.05 0.41 0.01 0.10 0.03 (0.02) 0.25 (0.13)
Wood 0.03 1.16 0.02 0.74 0.03 1.58 0.02 1.25 0.02 (0.01) 1.18 (0.35)
Metal 0.08 1.84 0.05 0.81 0.03 0.60 0.02 0.52 0.05 (0.03) 0.94 (0.61)
Glass 0.005 0.45 0.03 0.22 0.004 0.11 0.003 0.34 0.01 (0.01) 0.28 (0.15)
Pottery/Ceramics 0.002 0.27 0.001 0.50 0.001 0.19 0.003 0.91 0.002 (0.001) 0.47 (0.32)
Sanitary waste 0.02 0.41 0.01 0.47 0.01 0.08 0 0 0.01 (0.01) 0.24 (0.23)
Medical waste 0.05 0.11 0.01 0.17 0.02 0.13 0.02 0.16 0.02 (0.02) 0.14 (0.03)
Other 0.10 1.50 0.03 0.69 0.01 0.15 0.02 0.40 0.04 (0.04) 0.68 (0.59)
TOTAL 4.17 37.73 1.45 12.28 1.57 18.13 1.22 16.29 2.10 (1.38) 21.11 (11.35)
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Turk. J. Fish.& Aquat. Sci. 20(2), 137-145

litter followed by clothes (5-15%), woods (3-9%) and (3%), pipes (3%) and plastic/polystyrene pieces 0-2.5 cm
metals (3-7%) (Figure 2) (Table 1). (2%) (Table 2). Litter with foreign labels comprised 0.2 %
The top ten litter items comprised 79 % of total of total litter during study and mainly belonging to Black
litter. The most commonly found type of litter item was Sea countries.
foam of various sizes (represented 17% of all items)
followed by plastic/polystyrene pieces 2.5-50 cm (15%), Possible Sources
caps/lids (10%), crisp/sweet packets and lolly sticks
(10%), food containers (8%), bags (including shopping) Matrix Scoring Technique revealed that 62% of
(7%), drinks (bottles, containers and drums) (6%), cups identifiable litter was from land-based sources. River

Figure 2. Composition of litter items according to material categories in terms of number (A) and weight (B). (Plastic/polystyrene
consists 43 types of items including most recorded items during the study according to Table 2).

Table 2. Ten most abundantlitter items that make up ~80% of the total litter recorded on 100 m of beach between June 2016-
March 2017

Rank OSPAR ID Type Sources Material Mean Std %

number (±)
1 45 Foam/Styrofoam Construction/Fishing/Pack Plastic 715 267 17
ing
2 46 Plastic/polystyrene pieces 2.5 - 50 Unclassified Plastic 647 409 15
cm
3 15 Caps/lids Beverage Plastic 412 340 10
4 19 Crisp/sweet packets and lolly sticks Food packing Plastic 406 534 10
5 6 Food containers Food packing Plastic 349 261 8
6 2 Bags (including shopping) General packing Plastic 293 245 7
7 4 Drinks (bottles, container and Beverage Plastic 268 150 6
drums)
8 21 Cups Beverage Plastic 117 48 3
9 - Pipes Construction Plastic 112 95 3
10 117 Plastic/polystyrene pieces 0 – 2.5 Unclassified Plastic 90 126 2
cm
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Turk. J. Fish.& Aquat. Sci. 20(2), 137-145

runoff and landfill/dumping were the most important Associated Organisms

land-based sources of litter being associated with 22%
and 21% of the items recorded, respectively (Figure 3). Marine litter associated organisms were observed
The remaining litter from land-based sources were from in spring and summer survey. Individuals, colonies and
tourism (beach users) (15%) and sewage (4%). The litter egg sacks of invertebrates belonging to Mollusca,
from sea-based sources was mainly from fishing (18%) Arthropoda and Bryozoa were encountered only on
followed by shipping (13%) and other offshore activities plastic items (Figure 5). A maximum of four different
(7%). taxa per litter item were found.
Considering the usage, identifiable litter was
mainly beverage (21%), food (19%) and general packing Discussion
(15%) items (Figure 4). Fishing related items comprised
8% of items and mainly consisted of foam fish boxes Composition and Density
(60%) followed by, nets and ropes (16%) and crates
(14%). Construction comprised 7% of items and The average amount of litter found on the Black
foam/styrofoam (70%) was the most recorded Sea coasts varied between 0.05-5.05 item.m-2 according
construction items. Around 18% of litter (plastic pieces) to previous works (Table 3). ML density reported here
were not identifiable. Considering the total abundance are within the range reported from the other regions in
of litter, Clean Coast Index showed that beach was very the Black Sea (Table 3). Although there are some
dirty in each season (CCI for summer: 83.4, autumn: differences in the density of beach litter between
29.1, winter: 33.3, spring:24,4 ). regions (Table 3), plastics constitute approximately 60-

Figure 3. Schematically potential sources of litter found on Saraykoy Beach

Figure 4. Usage categories of litter found on Saraykoy Beach.

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Turk. J. Fish.& Aquat. Sci. 20(2), 137-145

Figure 5. Marine litter associated organisms: a, b, e- Mytillus sp. (Mollusca, Bivalvia), barnacles (Arthropoda, Crustacea, Cirripedia)
and Bryozoan colony, c- barnacles (Arthropoda, Crustacea, Cirripedia), d- Gastropoda eggs (Mollusca), f- Mytillus sp. (Mollusca,
Bivalvia).

Table 3. Beach litter densities in the Black Sea coasts

Location Density (items/m2) Plastic (%) Reference
SW Black Sea 0.085-5.058 91 Topçu et. al., 2013
SE Black Sea 0.05-0.55 71.58 Terzi & Seyhan, 2013
Southern Black Sea 1.033-2.352 95.6 Visne & Bat, 2016
NW Black Sea 1.11 80.6 Paiu et al., 2017
NW Black Sea 0.05-0.13 84.3 Simeonova, et. al., 2017
SE Black Sea 0.16 ± 0.02 61.65 Terzi & Seyhan, 2017
SE Black Sea 1.22-4.17 92 This study

80% of ML around the world (Derraik, 2002), including In the Black Sea, the highest density of litter was
Black Sea (Topçu et al., 2013; Visne & Bat, 2016; reported in summer from Western (Simenova et al.,
Simeonova et al., 2017; Terzi & Seyhan, 2017). Our 2017) and SE coasts (Terzi & Seyhan, 2017), and in
results showed that plastics were the most common autumn from SW coast (Topçu et al., 2013). In this
type of litter in the region mainly from beverage, food study, the highest density of litter by number and weight
and general packing in agreement with previous reports was found in summer. Our summer sampling was
from Southern coast of Black Sea (Topçu et al., 2013; carried in June before the beach became actively used
Visne & Bat, 2016; Terzi & Seyhan, 2017). for swimming/sun bathing activities and the beach
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coffees opened for summer. From mid- June to mid- Seyhan, 2017). One explanation could be that in the SE
September, the beach is used by local people and daily Black Sea, the beaches are used for a limited time during
cleaned by coffee staff. Regarding to our autumn summer due to rainy nature and are not subjected to
(October) sampling, it was surveyed one month after heavy tourist visit. High concentration of discarded or
beach became inactive. Thus, a possible cause for the abandoned fishing nets were reported in some shelf
high litter density observed in June, rather than in areas of the Black Sea (BSC, 2007), however in this study,
October after summer use, might be the accumulation nets and pieces of nets (< 50 cm) only comprised < 1%
of litter between winter and early summer. Accordingly, of total litter.
an aerial survey in Russian coastal waters showed that a
major quantity of litter comes by rivers and rain torrents Sources
during late spring and early summer (BSC, 2007).
Deposition and retention of litter and abundance Land-based sources, particularly river runoff and
depends multiple factors, such as physical characteristic landfill/dumping sites, are recognized to be the most
of coast, proximity to sources, weather conditions (e.g. important sources of litter in the Southern Black Sea
precipitation, prevailing wind) and near-shore currents (BSC, 2007). This is also confirmed in this study
(Barnes et al., 2009; UNEP, 2009). The beach surveyed according to Matrix Scoring Technique. Municipal and
can be characterized as a rocky shore with a higher industrial solid wastes, mixed with hazardous wastes are
retention capacity of washed litter items compared to often dumped on the nearest lowlands and river valleys
sandy beaches (Moore, Gregorio, Carreon, Weisberg & in the Southern Black Sea (Berkun, Egemen, &
Leecaster, 2001). Concerning weather conditions, Nemlioglu, 2005), which can be transported into the sea
during the sampling periods, both wind and by waves, winds and rains.
precipitation were weak, and wind direction fluctuated During this study, 92% of total litter were
between the SW and SE quadrants (data not shown). No comprised by persistent-buoyant litters. The permanent
statistically important relation between wind circulation feature of the Black Sea is the meandering
speed/direction, precipitation and litter density was rim current (Figure 1), which encirculates the entire
found during study (P>0.05). basin in a counter-clockwise direction (Oguz et al., 1993)
Composition of litter in this study was similar to and may cause a dissemination of plastic items over the
those reported from Southern Black Sea coast (Topçu et basin. In a survey of ten beaches in Turkish western
al., 2013; Vişne & Bat, 2016; Terzi & Seyhan, 2017). coast of Black Sea, foreign litter made up about half of
According to total litter recorded on 100 m of beach the labelled litter and it was assumed to be transported
between June 2016- March 2017, foam was the most from neighbouring countries by currents or by
recorded item in agreement with previous studies international shipping. (Topçu et al., 2013). Foreign litter
(Topçu et al., 2013; Terzi & Seyhan, 2017). Foam might was reported to comprise 2.38% of total litter in the
have originated from various sources such as general Southern Black Sea (Vişne & Bat, 2016). In this study,
packing, fishing and construction, and their contribution foreign litter comprised only 0.2% of total litter.
is difficult to identify. Fishing seems an important source However, high number of foam and plastic pieces (2.5-
since foam fish boxes are extensively used by local 50 cm) found on the beach might have entered the
fishermen to transport fishes in the region. Another marine environment a long time ago and originated
source seems to be the construction (insulation boards). from distant sources.
Plastic pieces (2.5- 50 cm) were the second most
common item of beach litter being associated with 15% Potential Harm on Associated to ML
of the items recorded in agreement with previous
reports from NW (Mureşan et al., 2017) and Southern Because of their capacity for entanglement,
Black Sea beaches (Topçu et al., 2013; Vişne & Bat, 2016; ingestion, transportation of invasive, pathogen species
Terzi & Seyhan, 2017). These small plastics pieces might and organic pollutants (Gall & Thomson, 2015), all litter
easily carry to sea by winds and be abundant due to the items found on beach might be considered harmful to
continuous erosion of larger plastic items. the marine environment. They are also a reason for
Cigarette butts were one of the most frequent concern due to coastal recreation safety and aesthetics
litter items found on beaches in several areas in Europe (Cheshire et al., 2009). Marine litter can affect
(Veiga et al., 2016), including the Bulgarian (Simeonova biodiversity directly by habitat lost and indirectly as
et al., 2017) and Romanian coast of Black Sea (Paiu, artificial surface. While sinking litter might affect benthic
Cândea, Paiu & Gheorghe 2017; Golumbeanu et al., habitat (Trouwborst, 2011), floating debris can
2017; Muresan et al., 2017). In these studies, the transport marine organisms over long distances (Aliani
amount of cigarette butts and filters were closely & Molchard, 2003). Bryozoans, crustaceans, worms,
related to the presence of tourists. However, in this hydroids and molluscs have been reported from floating
study, cigarette buds and filters comprised less than 1% litter (e.g. Aliani & Molchard, 2003; Rech, Salmina,
of total litter, in agreement with previous studies from Borrell Pichs & Garcia-Vazquez, 2018). Many of these
Southern Black Sea coast (Topçu et al., 2013; Terzi & fouling organisms are potentially classified as invasive
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Turk. J. Fish.& Aquat. Sci. 20(2), 137-145

species. In last decades the Black Sea ecosystem has Meteorological Service for providing meteorological
been strongly affected by invasive species (Oguz, data.
Velikova & Kıdeys, 2008). In this study, we found three
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