Baseline
Low abundance of floating marine debris in the northern Baltic Sea

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110522Get rights and content

Highlights

  • First estimates are given for densities of floating marine debris (FMD) in the Baltic Sea.

  • FMD was quantified during seasonal public ferry cruises.

  • Pollution of the northern Baltic Sea by FMD is low.

  • FMD consisted almost exclusively of plastics.

  • Seasonal variations in FMD densities were low.

Abstract

We determined the spatial and seasonal distribution of Floating Marine Debris (FMD) by visual ship surveys across the northern Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden. FMD density was comparatively low, and we found the highest debris density close to major port cities. The seasonal variation in debris density was not pronounced although we observed more FMD items during the summer surveys. Plastic bags were the most common identifiable litter items, and we also found other consumer items (plastic bottles and cups). Styrofoam items suggest fishing or aquaculture activities as potential sea-based sources of FMD. These are the first data on FMD density in the Baltic Sea, and they are substantially lower than those reported for other coastal waters, which may be due to (i) lower human population densities, and (ii) higher environmental awareness in the Scandinavian countries.

Section snippets

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Silja Line and to all observers during the ferry cruises. We thank J. Beermann for preparing the map of the study area. Financial support was obtained through the project Academy of Finland (decision # 251102) to E.R. and V.J., and through the BONUS project BAMBI, the joint Baltic Sea research and development programme (Art 185), funded jointly from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration and various national

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