Abstract:
Marine debris is a well-known problem in Sri Lanka, where it has a significant effect on the
marine ecosystem and biodiversity.This is the first quantitative study of macro marine debris
(>2.5cm) in terms of materialtype, abundance, and composition at Charty beach, Jaffna, Sri
Lanka.Monthly sampling was done every fortnight using the shoreline survey method from
December 2020 to April 2021.Two stretched areas of 100-meter were chosen at random and
divided into twenty 5-meter transects.The collected debris were manually counted, weighed
using with an analytical balance and categorized into eight groups by material type, such as hard
plastics, film, fiber and fabric, styrofoam, other polymers, metal, papers/cardboard, glass.A total
of 974 debris were counted and measured, totaling 1999.848 g.The most abundant form of
marine litter found on the beach was film (38%), while metal (1%) was the least common.The
mean abundance of filmwas 0.1540 ± 0.0569, hard plastics 0.09 ± 0.075, fiber and fabric 0.0840
± 0.0438, styrofoam0.0473 ± 0.054, other polymers 0.023 ± 0.0313, papers/cardboards 0.02075
± 0.01463, glass 0.011 ± 0.015 and metal0.00725 ± 0.01402 particles/m- 2
. The beach has been
proven to be contaminated with larger marine debris, according to the current study.Recreational
and fishing wereidentified as major littering practices in the beach.As the first study of marine
debris at Charty Beach in Northern Sri Lanka, this study paves the way for long-term research as
well as preliminary data for the stakeholders involved in conservation and management of
valuable marine resources.
