Distribution and composition of benthic marine litter on the shelf of Antalya in the eastern Mediterranean

In recent years, the pollution of the seas by the litter has identified as a serious environmental problem. Studies indicate that the majority of the marine litter consists of plastic, which is a result of human actions that also affected by river input, fishing activity and current systems. Thus, this study mainly focused on the distribution and composition of benthic marine litter. The sampling was carried out in Antalya Bay with a demersal trawl. A total of 68 hauls were performed and 370 pieces of 136.3 kg litter were collected. The density values vary between 13.3 and 651.1 n/km−2 and weight values vary between 0.02 and 559 kg/km−2 in overall litter. Distribution, density - weight indices by testing the differences with the depth, season and transect were analysed. Depth had a significant impact on both density and weight indices. Marine litter monitoring program is necessary for offering more solution proposals.