Marine Litter in the Northern Part of Gulf of Mannar, Southeast Coast of India

摘要

Marine litter has become one of the problematic concerns in the Gulf of Mannar. This study was aimed to survey and evaluate the composition, abundance, distribution and quantification of the types, amount, sources and impact of marine Utter on the beach of the Gulf of Mannar region. This is first of its kind in India especially in the Gulf of Mannar. Quantification, source and impact of marine litter in the Gulf of Mannar, India were surveyed from March 2006 to February 2008. Maximum shoreline marine litter was noticed in May and June 2007 and the minimum was noticed in Feb. 2008. Occurrence of Shoreline marine litter during the Southwest monsoon period was the maximum and the cool winter period was the minimum. The maximum shoreline marine litter was 94-95 items of 5,409-6,588 g and the minimum shoreline marine litter was 42 items of 2,088 g. Eight percent of the total litter included only three major items, viz., Plastic (48%), polystyrene (18%) and cloth (15%). Fishing represented the largest source, Tourism/recreation was the second and Sewage Related Debris (SRD) was the third common source of marine litter. Stranded marine animals and impact on the ecosystems of coral reef, seagrass were also observed. The findings revealed the factors such as proximity of a given beach to a population center, pilgrim and Southwest monsoon wind which most dominantly affect the litter distribution in the Northern Gulf of Mannar coastline.