Marine debris in central California: Quantifying type and abundance of beach litter in Monterey Bay, CA

► Average litter abundance in Monterey Bay, CA is 1 item m−2. ► Temporal effects lead to differences in litter abundance between locations. ► Styrofoam made up 41% of the total amount of litter. ► Litter type is significantly different between months and locations. ► No difference in litter abundance between low and high accessible locations.