Marine litter’s composition and density at Baiya Beach in Palu Bay

Abstract

Sea is a wealth of nature that contains a wide variety of resources, for living things. Marine health is an important thing that must be maintained for sustainable living. Marine Litter is a waste from land that goes into the sea and disrupts the ecosystems of marine health, especially materials that cannot decompose such as plastics, glass, and others. The purpose of this research was to determine the waste’s composition and density based on the type of material and to know the trend of type and concentration of marine litter. A sampling of marine litter at Baiya Beach followed the criteria according to the guidance survey of marine litter on the beach. Baiya Beach is located in Palu Bay and meets the criteria in the monitoring of marine litter. The results obtained, there were 10 meso types of wastes (0.5-2.5 cm) that dominated by woods, plastics, and glasses & ceramics with density of 57.83 pieces m−2, 20.79 pieces m−2, 19.90 pieces m−2 respectively, while the macro type (>2.5cm) contained 25 types that dominated by plastic, wood, and other materials (sanitary) with a density respectively of 9.72 piece m−2, 3.40 piece m−2, 160.32 piece m−2. These results showed that the type and quantity of litter are generally derived from human activity.

Future loss of local-scale thermal refugia in coral reef ecosystems

“…Despite having high susceptibility to future thermal stress, low variability thermal refugia in South Sumatra and intermediate reefs in Sulawesi (Fig 5) may act as very short-term thermal refuges. Less exposed reefs in Central Sulawesi occur where river input influences local SST [55,56]. Reefs in these thermal refugia are in poor health [57].…”

“…Reefs in these thermal refugia are in poor health [57]. River input and nearby coastal developments result in high levels of marine pollution and sedimentation [55,56], alongside overfishing and destructive fishing practices [57]. Management of anthropogenic pressures in low variability, less exposed reefs may however allow these areas to reseed in the short term and facilitate the recovery of the thermally exposed surrounding areas [2].…”