Around 450 million people live along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. As a consequence, large amounts of plastic also accumulate on beaches and coasts. Spanish scientists estimate the amount at about 1 particle per 4 m². The amount is comparable to the plastic accumulation in the big waste vortices of the North Pacific. Source: Modified from Cozar 2015, plos.org
Photo: Andrés Cózar
Biological diversity is particularly endangered, but economic losses in the tourism sector are also to be expected. Turtles, such as this hawksbill turtle on Cyprus, often get entangled in floating nets and confuse plastic particles with nutrition. Here the stomach content of a hawksbill turtle is shown.
Photo: Damien du Toit, Emily Duncan, Location: Cyprus