Plastic pollution on beaches in an Antillean manatee conservation area, Brazil

Mário Herculano de Oliveira; Maria Eduarda Santana Verissimo; Breno Carvalho da Silva; André Luiz Machado Pessanha

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117062

Plastic pollution on beaches in an Antillean manatee conservation area, Brazil

Mar Pollut Bull. 2024 Oct 2:208:117062. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117062. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Mário Herculano de Oliveira¹, Maria Eduarda Santana Verissimo¹, Breno Carvalho da Silva¹, André Luiz Machado Pessanha²

Affiliations

¹ Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Avenida das Baraúnas, 351, Bairro Universitário, 58429-500 Campina Grande, PB, Brazil.
² Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Avenida das Baraúnas, 351, Bairro Universitário, 58429-500 Campina Grande, PB, Brazil. Electronic address: andrepessanhauepb@gmail.com.

PMID: 39361991
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117062

Abstract

The presence of plastic debris along shorelines is a widespread problem, and plastic debris can interact directly with marine wildlife. In northeast Brazil, the Antillean manatees are the most common marine mammals and use estuarine waters mainly as their home range. We aimed to investigate the characteristics of plastic debris on the estuarine-oceanic continuum and the accumulation density of plastic on beaches. The density of plastic debris on beaches located in transitional areas was 7-10-fold greater than that on beaches in estuarine and oceanic areas. Fragments were considered the most abundant form of plastic debris on all the beaches. Our findings could lead to improved pollution management in this marine protected area, principally due to the risks of remobilizing small plastic particles through tides and wind effects that scatter them in resting and feeding manatees areas.

Keywords: Macroplastic; Mamanguape estuary; Manatees; Mesoplastic; Sediment.