Marine Litter and Grading of the Coastal Areas of Ambon Bay, Indonesia

Abstract

The coastal is frequently impacted by marine litter that damages marine wildlife and causes economic loss to fishing and maritime industries. In this study, we described the quantity of marine litter in the inner and outer of Ambon Bay. The Sampling was carried out in September 2017. The beach litter sampling was handled by the line transect method combined with the quadrant method in 8 sites; the observation of floating litter was conducted manually with boat sampling and visual observation in a seven-line trajectory. About 2359 items of coastal litter were found in seven sites in Ambon Bay with a mean density of 18.87 items.m -2. These beach litter belonging to five categories were counted (plastic, glass, metal, cloth, paper). The highest abundance of beach litter was found in the inner Ambon Bay with a mean density of 68.74 items per m2. Plastic was the most abundant beach litter observed. Based on Clean Coast Index (CCI) evaluation, all coastal sites in Ambon Bay were identified as Very Dirty, that is most of the coastal is covered with litter. The highest floating litter was found near the market. The abundance and distribution of litter through Ambon Bay seem to be influenced by the local human population, anthropogenic activities, and seawater circulation in inner and outer Ambon Bay.