Composition and abundance of beach litter in Montenegro (South Adriatic Sea)

This paper presents results of the first investigation of beach litter in Montenegro. Sampling was performed during four seasons, autumn (October) 2014, winter (January), spring (April) and summer (July) 2015, on two beaches. One of them, Igalo beach is situated in the area of Boka Kotorska Bay, while second one - Kamenovo beach is situated at the open part of Montenegrin coast. Methodology that was used during sampling was developed during IPA Adriatic DeFishGear project. Total of 2 992 pieces of litter items, with total weight of 51.47 kg was collected during all seasons. Summarizing the monitored results of surveyed beaches from all four seasons, results showed that the plastic was dominant type of litter with 75.3% on Kamenovo beach and 77% on Igalo beach, followed by cloth, metal and wood items. Results showed relatively big amount of marine litter and further investigation should be concentrated on wider area