PLASTIC DEBRIS ON THE ADRIATIC SEA BEACHES IN SOUTHERN MONTENEGRO

Six beaches in southern Montenegro were examined in the spring of 2017 to determine amounts and patterns of plastic pollution and compare them with other beaches along the Adriatic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. We used a selective sampling method of a 1 square meter surface along a swash line (17 spots) and along a vegetation line (6 spots). We sampled areas that indicated the largest amounts of microplastics (< 5 mm). Microplastics were much more abundant (73.5%) than macroplastics (26.5%) on all beaches except Buljarica, where macroplastics were slightly more abundant (51.6%) than microplastics (48.4%). Buljarica is a reflective beach that is made of the coarsest sediment - coarse pebbles mixed with granules and coarse sand. There were 16 pieces of macroplastics per square meter, with ranges of 6 pieces (Ada Bojana Beach) to 44 pieces per square meter (Sutomore Beach). These data suggest that the Adriatic beaches of southern Montenegro are less polluted by macroplastic than most other beaches along the Adriatic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. There were 44.7 pieces of microplastics per square meter, with ranges of 22 pieces (Lučice Beach) to 224 pieces per square meter (Sutomore Beach). Foam (almost exclusively styrofoam) was the most abundant (68%) type of microplastic on all of the beaches, then fragments (22.6%), film (5.8%), pellets/beads (2.4%), and fiber (1.2%). Even though the relative abundance of foam along the swash line was 75.1%, due to its light weight and easy transport by wind, its relative abundance along the vegetation line drops to only 4.8% of the total. Fragments were the most abundant (85.6%) microplastics along the vegetation line. There was an increase in macroplastics’ relative abundance down drift at two dissipative beaches (Ada Bojana and Ulcinj’s Big Beach) and three reflective beaches (Sutomore, Čanj, and Lučice). There are no trends in microplastics’ relative abundance in respect to drift direction nor the texture of the beach sediment.