Marine Pollution Bulletin 171 (2021) 112700

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Marine Pollution Bulletin

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpolbul

What remains on the beach after tourists leave? The case of Abaís beach
(Sergipe, Brazil)
Fernanda Silva de Melo Nobre a, Ana Alice Santos b, Jeamylle Nilin c, *
a
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia e Ciências Ambientais, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Av. Marechal Rondon s/n, CEP 49.100-000 São Cristóvão,
Sergipe, Brazil
b
Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Av. Marechal Rondon s/n, CEP 49.100-000 São Cristóvão, Sergipe, Brazil
c
Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Campus Umuarama, rua Ceará s/n Bloco 2D, sala 28, CEP 38405-302 Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The study evaluated the characteristics of marine litter disposed of by tourists on the Abaís beach (state of
Plastic Sergipe, Brazil), during the dry (December/2017, January/2018, and February/2018) and rainy (May/2018,
Tourism June/2018, and July/2018) months. Litter was collected on a Sunday of each month after the tourists left. The
Beach litter
values of abundance (9.71 ± 2.03 items/m), weight (21.07 ± 16.04 g/m), volume (0.58 ± 0.25 L/m), richness
Coastal management
Marine pollution
(33 litter groups) and plastic percentage (75.07 ± 4.81%) were higher in the dry months compared to the rainy
ones (2.01 ± 2.80 items/m; 5.08 ± 6.01 g/m; 0.17 ± 0.16 L/m; 22 litter groups; and 68.62 ± 5.98% of plastic,
respectively). Considering the tourist importance of the Abaís beach to Sergipe state, it is crucial to develop
effective cleaning actions, environmental awareness campaigns for tourists, residents and traders, as well as to
establish restrictive public legal instruments to promote reduction, reuse, and recycling of the marine litter.

The coastal zone provides valuable scenic and natural resources that
have a high economic potential for tourism, which is one of the main
socioeconomic activities. The inadequate exploitation of environmental
resources by intense tourism and the desorbed process of land occupa­
tion has led to environment degradation (ICMBio, 2019; Prates et al.,
2012; Silva et al., 2018). The recreational use of beaches has a high
potential for income generation (ICMBio, 2019). However, this activity
may cause damage to the environment, such as through disposal of
marine litter that is known as an important factor of coastal zone
pollution, which compromises the public health and marine biota
(Sheavly and Register, 2007). In addition, litter can cause visual impacts
and make beaches aesthetically unpleasant to beachgoers, consequently,
compromising the local tourism (Dias Filho et al., 2011; Krelling et al.,
2017; Garcés-Ordóñez et al., 2020).
The most frequent marine litter described in most of studies is plastic,
due to its durability and resistance (Jambeck et al., 2015; Moore, 2015;
Schneider et al., 2018) that influence its abundance and persistence in
the environment. These items are commonly ingested by marine fauna
from different trophic levels, such as birds, fishes, crustaceans, and,
through the consumption of these animals, people can also ingest par­
ticles of this polymer (Galloway, 2015). The solutions to minimize the
impact of marine litter require measures which can be adapted
according to local particularities. Thus, the most effective way to
investigate marine litter pollution is through monitoring the beach areas
that can provide an important index of environmental quality in coastal
zones (Liu et al., 2013). In general, it is observed that the low frequency
of cleaning services (Ivar do Sul and Costa, 2014; Somerville et al.,
2003), the lack of bins on the beaches, as well as the littering behaviors
directly contribute to the irregular disposal of litter on the beach (Wil­
liams et al., 2016). Therefore, it is important to assess tourism influence
in the generation of marine litter on touristic beaches in order to
establish efficient strategies to mitigate its impact (Fonseca et al., 2010;
UNEP and NOOA, 2012). Furthermore, coastal cities tend to have a
higher quantity of marine litter, mainly in the Summer, when the
number of tourists is intensified (Garcés-Ordóñez et al., 2020; Silva
et al., 2018). Studies about marine litter have shown that recreational
activities and tourism are the main sources of accumulation of these
items on the beaches (Cavalcante et al., 2020; Wilson and Verlis, 2017).
Correspondingly, Tourinho and Fillmann (2011) evaluated temporal
trends in litter accumulation in southern Brazil that indicated a litter
increase on the beaches, probably explained by population growth,
tourism, and fishing activity.
The coastal zone of Sergipe state is equivalent to 24.9% of the total
area of the state (Fonseca et al., 2010) and beach tourism is an important

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: jeamylle@gmail.com, nilin@ufu.br (J. Nilin).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112700
Received 14 February 2021; Received in revised form 28 June 2021; Accepted 1 July 2021
Available online 23 July 2021
0025-326X/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
F.S. de Melo Nobre et al.
economic source. Recently, Nobre et al. (2021) demonstrated that the
tourism is the main source of litter in the south coast of Sergipe, even on
remote beaches. Abaís beach is one of the most touristic and inhabited
ones on the southern coast of Sergipe (Fonseca et al., 2010) and it was
observed litter disposal in inappropriate places such open fields, man­
groves, dunes and beaches (Oliveira et al., 2008). By that, the present
study aimed to evaluate the characteristics of the litter discarded by
beach users on the tourist beach of Abaís, immediately left on the beach,
during the dry and rainy seasons.
Abaís beach is situated in the coastal zone of Estância city (Fig. 1)
that has, approximately, 64,409 inhabitants (IBGE, 2010). As well as
over the south coast of Sergipe state, this area is an important nesting
site for sea turtles of the species Lepidochelys olivacea and Caretta caretta
(Reis et al., 2010), which have been monitored, constantly, by Projeto
Tamar. The most populated area at Abaís beach is a village that is 30 km
away from the center of Estância city. The village is constituted by local
residents, second residences, grocery stores, and commercial establish­
ments for tourism (Sema, 2005). The main access to Abaís beach is
through a beachfront called Orlinha, which has about 20 commercial
establishments, such as bars, restaurants, kiosks and an open area for
events. The infrastructure of the beachfront and some commercial es­
tablishments that are close to the coastline has been damaged by the
erosion process. The Orlinha is limited to the north with the second
residences and restaurants, and to the south with kiosks and bars. During
dry months, which corresponds to Summer and vacation period, a high
number of nearby city dwellers and tourists from different states come
for recreation and entertainment at Abaís beach, especially, on the
weekends and holidays (Sema, 2005), as well as in others tourist areas of
Fig. 1. Map of the Abaís beach in Sergipe, Brazil.
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Marine Pollution Bulletin 171 (2021) 112700
Sergipe coast (Lima, 2011).
The sample sites were delimited in the southern area of the Orlinha,
where there is a high concentration of bars/restaurants and beachgoers.
The bars are constituted by masonry structures and wooden shacks
(covered with thatch) that also provide the beachgoers with beach
umbrellas that are installed on the upper beach. Most of these bars were
built close to dunes and restinga vegetation, and do not have adequate
wastewater collection and treatment infrastructure, as well as for the
proper disposal of solid waste generated in these establishments. In
addition, there is circulation of street vendors and the presence of tents
and private beach umbrellas brought by tourists, who also bring their
own food and drinks and stay close to bars and dune regions.
The litter sampling was carried out during dry (December/2017,
January/2018, and February/2018) and rainy (May/2018, June/2018 e
July/2018) months. The campaign was developed on one Sunday of
each month, after the tourists had left the beach (circa of 16:00 p.m.)
and avoiding the high tides (Supplementary Data 1). Thus, a 200 m long
(parallel to the sea) and 5 m wide transect was set up and divided into
two: 2.5 m between the high tide mark and the upper beach limit, and
2.5 m between the high tide mark and the sea (Supplementary Data 2).
The transect vertices were georeferenced using a Global Positioning
System (GPS) device (Garmin eTrex Vista® HCx) to ensure the sampling
in the same site. This quadrant was then divided into ten sections (20 ×
5 m), but only five sections were randomly chosen for the sampling,
representing a collection area equal to 500 m2. Three surveyors
collected manually all macro-litter (>2.5 cm) identified on the surface
or semi-buried (Vlachogianni, 2014), except for organic matter. All
items were stored in plastic bags (50 L), that were labeled with the
F.S. de Melo Nobre et al. Marine Pollution Bulletin 171 (2021) 112700

number of the section of sampling. At the laboratory, the litter of each

section was cleaned up, separated and counted according to their cate­
gories (paper/cardboard, rubber, glass, plastic, metal, fabric, styro­
foam/foam, ceramic, wood, and hazardous) and groups as described in
the Guidelines on Survey and Monitoring of Marine Litter (Cheshire
et al., 2009) (Supplementary Data 3). According to their categories, the
items from each section were weighed, using an Electronic Digital
Weight Scale (5000 g/1 g), and then the volume of litter was estimated.
This process was, basically, filling a gallon bucket (20 L), without
compaction, with a certain amount of items and measured the height of
the filled gallon to calculate the items volume, considering its
dimensions.
The data were analyzed by mean ± standard deviation of items
number, weight, volume per linear meter (100 m), considering the items
collected on the five sections. Initially, the normality of the data was
verified by D'Agostino & Pearson Omnibus, and the homogeneity of
variances was checked with the Bartlett test. Considering that the values
were non-parametric, we performed the One-Way Analysis of Variance
followed by the Kruskal-Wallis' test to evaluate the variation of the
monthly mean from the dry and rainy periods considering the value of p
< 0.05 for significance. Sequentially, the Dun's test was applied to verify
the significant difference (p < 0.05) between the dry and rainy periods.
All statistical analyses were performed by GraphPad Prism v.5.0 soft­
ware (GraphPad Software, La Jolla California). In addition, the per­
centage and richness (litter groups) of each category were calculated in
Microsoft® Excel 2010 software. Finally, the number of bins needed to
store the litter was estimated by calculating the volume of litter for
conventional collection, adapting the methodology for multifamily and
mixed-use buildings (ASBEA and Comcap, 2008) to coastal areas, using
the following equation.

V = n × A × f × k2
V = Volume of litter for conventional collection (L);
n = Daily volume generation in a specific area (L/m2/day);
A = Total area where the litter is generated (m2);
f = 2 (coefficient that considers all bins will be cleaned 3 times a
week);
k2 = 0.6 (percentage of the fraction of residues and organic waste
generated in bars and restaurants for conventional collection).

Daily volume (n) of the equation was determined considering the

overall average of volume during the dry period (57.33 L/day) and the
total area of the five sections (500 m2), which resulted in 0.12 L/m2/day
(n). Also, the total area of litter generation (A) corresponded to 6000 m2,
which covered the beachfront area at Orlinha of the Abaís beach.
During the study, we collected in Abaís beach 3557 items, sub­
divided into 2913 in the dry and 604 items in the rainy period.
Considering the monthly mean and median of linear items, we observed
that December (10.8 and 11.0 items/m) had a higher mean, followed by
February (9.9 and 10.6 items/m), January (8.4 and 8.5 items/m), May
(3.5 and 1.7 items/m), June (2.2 and 2.0 items/m) and July (0.7 and 0.5
items/m) (Fig. 2a). Furthermore, it was observed a heterogeneous dis­
tribution of the items as a result of the higher concentration of items in
Fig. 2. Litter items (a), weight (b) e volume (c) per linear meter (mean ± SD)
some of the sections, mainly, in December, February, and May. The collected in the five sections at Abaís beach in Sergipe, Brazil, during dry and
overall average (mean ± SD) and median of the dry (9.71 ± 2.03 and rainy periods. The same letters have no significant difference (p < 0.05) among
9.40 items/m) period was superior to the rainy (2.01 ± 2.80 and 1.55 all months. The continuous and dashed lines represent the means to the dry
items/m) months, however there was no significant difference between (circle) and rainy (square) periods, respectively. Asterisks indicate the statistic
the monthly averages of each period. difference between dry and rainy data (p < 0.05).
The total weight was 7.8 kg, and the monthly averages of weight had
high variation among the sections (coefficient of variation between (5.08 ± 6.01 g/m). Evaluating the volume of litter, which had a total of
40.54 and 171.10%), except in January, which presented greater ho­ 221.49 L, the monthly averages presented a low coefficient of variation
mogeneity (coefficient of variation equals 17.56%) (Fig. 2b). In general, in January (25.13%), and the other months the variation was between
low quantities of ceramic, glass, and wood, in addition to plastic, 29.92% and 90.97% (Fig. 2c). These results were associated with the
favored high values of weight as showed in the results of weight per abundance and the characteristics of the litter, such as malleability and
items (Supplementary Data 4). The overall average of weight remained shape. Thus, the values of volume had a direct relation with the amount
higher in the dry (21.07 ± 16.04 g/m) compared to the rainy period

3
F.S. de Melo Nobre et al. Marine Pollution Bulletin 171 (2021) 112700

of plastic. Monthly values of volume had the following variation:

December (75.60 L) > February (58.76 L) > January (37.63 L) > May
(26.41 L) > July (12.0 L) > June (11.09 L). As well as the weight, the
overall average of volume was higher (0.58 ± 0.25 L/m) in the dry
compared to the rainy period (0.17 ± 0.16 L/m).
Regarding the categories of litter, plastic was the most common item
in both periods of sampling (Table 1), with a total percentage > 70%. .
Paper/cardboard was the second most predominant category in the dry
period, followed by wood and metal. During the rainy period, besides
plastic, the main categories were ceramic, wood, styrofoam/foam, and
metal. It was registered a percentage of hazardous material only in the
dry months (0.03 ± 0.06%).
When evaluating the richness of the litter collected (Fig. 3), it was
determined the groups of items from each category. In general, plastic
had the higher richness, followed by wood and paper. Moreover, the dry
months (33 groups of litter) presented more richness compared to the Fig. 3. The richness (litter groups) for each category of litter at Abaís beach in
rainy period (22 groups of litter). Considering the predominance of Sergipe, during dry and rainy months.
plastic litter, it was specified the groups of plastic ≥5% (Table 2). Food
packaging and unidentified malleable fragments were most predomi­
Table 2
nant, respectively, in the dry and rainy periods, while cups were the
Ranking of plastic groups with a percentage ≥ 5%, considering the total number
second most common group of litter for both periods. It was noticed that
of plastics collected at Abaís beach in Sergipe, Brazil, during dry and rainy
monofilaments and unidentified rigid fragments did not achieve a per­ months.
centage of ≥5% in the dry period, as well as caps/lids in the rainy
Rank Groups Dry Groups Rainy
period. It is important to highlight that in the southwest of the village,
months months (%)
there is a Brejo stream that is part of the coastal basin Caueira/Abaís (%)
(Semarh, 2016). However, we did not identify a river-related influence
1 Food packaging 23 Unidentified 20
on the disposal of litter in the sample site, because the stream is located malleable fragments
southwest of the beach area, and the marine current flows predomi­ 2 Cups 21 Cups 18
nantly to NE-SW direction (Fontes et al., 2012). 3 Unidentified 11 Food packaging 12
In order to establish the number and the dimension of the bins at malleable fragments
4 Straws 9 Monofilament 10
Abaís beach, as an emergency measure for the proper storage of marine
5 Cigarette butts 7 Unidentified rigid 9
litter, we must consider the weight and volume data from the study site. fragments
Thus, using the equation, we calculated a volume of litter (V) equal to 6 Caps/lids 5 Straws 8
864 L of mixed litter (recyclable, organic, and waste), considering all 7 – – Cigarette butts 5
Total 75 82
bins will be cleaned by public cleaning services 3 times a week. With
these values, we suggested installing 18 bins with a 50 L capacity, every
22 m, on the beachfront at Abaís beach, near to the bars, restaurants, and in the abundance of macro residues in the coastal zone (UNEP, 2016).
kiosks. The quantity of litter in the beach can be influenced by the presence
Based in all the results, it was presumed that in tourist regions the of infrastructure (Poeta et al., 2016) and the proximity to an urban area
abundance of litter increases during the dry months (overlay the sum­ (Leite et al., 2014). In the case of Abaís beach, the existence of a road
mer season), when a higher number of beachgoers is expected, conse­ that connects the state highway (SE-100) facilitates access to the
quently there is a greater generation of litter, comparing with the other beachfront and the second residences nearby, as well as advancing
seasons (Asensio-Montesinos et al., 2019; Aytan et al., 2020; Martinez- tourism in this region. In terms of the distribution of litter in Abaís
Ribes et al., 2007; Silva et al., 2008a, 2008b). The results demonstrated beach, the litter was disposed of by the tourists heterogeneously in the
that the quantity of litter at Abaís beach during the dry months was 5 sections, which caused a large variation in the numbers of items in some
times higher than rainy months. Comparing to other studies, it was months. At Abaís beach, a higher concentration of beachgoers near the
found in Niterói city, Rio de Janeiro state, the abundance of litter was bars was observed, consequently, these areas had a greater concentra­
about 3 times greater in Summer than during the Winter (Silva et al., tion of litter on the beach, more specifically, in the tables, tents and
2015), whereas in Rio de Janeiro city, Rio de Janeiro state, this ratio was beach umbrellas areas. Therefore, the disposition of litter on the beaches
2 times higher in the summer season (Alshawafi et al., 2017). These has the same pattern of the distribution of beach users, as well as the
results follow a global trend, which shows that the high degree of coastal abundance of litter is proportional to the flux of beachgoers (Silva et al.,
tourism is considered one of the main factors responsible for the increase 2008b). Despite this event, the results obtained in this research were
quite similar to other studies developed in sandy beaches in Sergipe
state, as on Aruana and Atalaia beaches (7.5 and 1.5 items/m, respec­
Table 1
Percentage of the categories of litter (mean ± SD) collected at Abaís beach in
tively), in the Litoral Central (Souza, 2016), and Pirambu beach (9.3
Sergipe, Brazil, during dry and rainy periods. items/m), in the North Coast (Santos et al., 2020). Portman and Brennan
(2017) pointed that the intensification of tourism and recreational ac­
Categories Dry Rainy
tivities influenced the increase in the generation of litter. Also, fishing
Plastic 75.0 ± 4.8 68.6 ± 6.0 practices have an important impact on marine litter disposal, mainly, in
Paper/cardboard 8.9 ± 2.5 2.8 ± 3.8
the Summer (Simeonova et al., 2017), as reported on the south coast of
Wood 7.2 ± 2.6 6.4 ± 0.9
Metal 5.1 ± 2.2 4.83 ± 1.8 Sergipe.
Ceramic 1.3 ± 0.3 10.4 ± 10.0 It was identified a higher richness of litter groups in the dry periods
Styrofoam/foam 1.2 ± 0.5 5.0 ± 6.5 that may be related with the tourism since in this period was recorded a
Rubber 0.2 ± 0.3 0.1 ± 0.2 higher amount of litter. The majority of the number and richness at
Fabric 0.8 ± 0.8 1.4 ± 1.6
Glass 0.2 ± 0.3 0.5 ± 0.8
Abaís beach was related to plastic, as expected in tourist regions that

4
F.S. de Melo Nobre et al.
registered percentages of plastic higher than 60% (Alshawafi et al.,
2017; Carson et al., 2013; Kiessling et al., 2017; Laglbauer et al., 2014).
Most regions of Brazil and the world identified flag items that are
directly related to beach users such as food packaging, cups, straws,
cigarette butts, and caps/lids (Silva et al., 2008a; Simeonova et al.,
2017). Moreover, an overview of the International Coastal Cleanup
(ICC) annual activities reported a list of top 10 items collected globally
(food wrappers, cigarette butts, plastic beverage bottles, plastic bottle
caps, straws/stirrers, plastic cups/plates, plastic grocery bags, plastic
take out/away containers, other plastic bags, and plastic lids) that reveal
a greater influence of the tourism on the type of marine litter found in
the environment (Ocean Conservancy, 2020). Some of these items have
been targeted by many state and municipal laws to ensure progressive
prohibition of single-use plastics, following the same trend of banishing
the use of plastic bags. In Brazil, some states as Acre, Amapá, Amazonas,
Espírito Santo, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rio Grande do
Norte, Santa Catarina, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, as well as Distrito
Federal prohibited the use of plastic straws in their territories. Specif­
ically, in Sergipe state, the state government Sergipe, (2020) and the
municipality of Aracaju (Sergipe, 2019) established laws that ban the
distribution of plastic straws in commercial establishments. . A few laws
regard plastic cups, as an example of the one in São Paulo city that
banished single-use plastic cups, plates, cutlery, drink stirrers and sticks
for customers in hotels, restaurants, bars and bakeries, among other
commercial establishments (São Paulo, 2020). Another restrictive law,
known as Zero Plastic (Pernambuco, 2018), enforced in Fernando de
Noronha island, state district of Pernambuco, establishes the prohibition
of entry, sale and use of plastic containers and packaging or similar items
in the island in order to protect the local fauna. In the national ambit,
since 2018 a discussion began about the Senate Bill (Brasil, 2018) that
prohibits the distribution of plastic bags and straws throughout the
entire Brazilian territory, as well as the manufacture of personal hy­
gienic and cosmetic products, which have microplastics in their
composition.
Considering the groups of plastic identified at Abaís beach (Table 2),
we observed that the main source of plastic may be associated with the
consumption of snacks brought by the beach users, which justifies the
abundance of food packaging, as well as beverage and food sold in bars,
restaurants and by the street vendors that are related with the use of
cups, straws, and caps/lids. The proportion of cigarette butts on the
beach is a good indicator of local land-based source, considering that
they are easily washed by the waves (Nachite et al., 2019). It is one of the
most abundant residues found on the beach which basically is discarded
by beach users, so a large quantity of cigarettes has been found mostly
on tourist beaches (Chen et al., 2020; Krelling et al., 2017). However,
their frequency also may be related to the population habits from each
region, which justifies the fact that Abaís beach has a lower abundance
of cigarettes compared to other regions in Brazil (Oliveira and Turra,
2008; Silva-Cavalcanti et al., 2013) and other countries (Chen et al.,
2020; Nachite et al., 2019; Simeonova et al., 2017).
Fragments (unidentified malleable and rigid fragments) had repre­
sentative values in both periods of sampling, and they are one of the
biggest concerns related to marine litter pollution, because they are hard
to remove, once in the environment. In addition to being the predomi­
nant category of litter, plastic may decompose and contribute to the
generation of new fragments, even microplastics (Gesamp, 2015).
Monofilaments may cause a similar issue since they are the most com­
mon fishing gear related with sport and commercial fishing, as well as to
the flow of vessels among the south coast of Sergipe state. The variation
in their percentages is directly related to the effects of waves, currents,
and winds (Hengstmann et al., 2017). Besides climatic conditions, the
dimension of the monofilaments impairs their removal by conventional
cleaning services. These items collected had a heterogeneous distribu­
tion mostly evidenced throughout the weight analysis from each section
that implies a direct relationship with the type of item, instead of the
abundance of plastic. The small incidence of ceramic blocks, glass
5
Marine Pollution Bulletin 171 (2021) 112700
bottles, toys, and fragments of processed wood (<50 cm) contributed to
the increase in weight in specific sections of sampling. The incidence of
these items at Abaís beach may vary according to the tourism activities
to be carried out on the site, such as events, excursions, sport fishing, and
leisure. In the specific case of the volume, its variation was only pro­
portional to the number of items collected in each parcel, regardless of
the category or group, implying a higher monthly variation when
compared to the weight means.
It is important to highlight that in January/18 the municipality of
Estância installed nine bins at the beachfront region at Abaís beach
(Fig. 4), which may contribute to the reduction of the amount of litter.
However, during the sampling, it was observed that the frequency of
cleaning services and maintenance of the bins were not carried out
properly, and some of them were either partially buried or their struc­
ture was damaged by the tides and the weight of the litter. Although
organic waste has not been evaluated in this study, it is important to note
that they were quite frequent on the sandy, and as a suggestion the
coconuts must be stored in specific containers to support their bigger
weight and volume and contributing to their recycle. Also, the type of
bins should be selected in order to aid the cleaning services, therefore
using containers that can be easily removed to other sites, considering
the tide dynamic.
In conclusion, the present study provides the first detailed assess­
ment of marine litter from tourist sources on the south coast of Sergipe.
The marine litter abundance, weight, volume, and richness were higher
in the dry months than in raining ones. These results may be influenced
by the presence of beach users at Abaís beach, which usually has an
intense flux of tourists during the dry months. Also, the study reported
that the distribution of items is directly related to the distribution of
beachgoers on the beach. In other words, the greater the concentration
of beachgoers, the greater the amount of litter discarded in the same
location. Plastic was the predominant category of litter at Abaís beach,
with a total percentage above 70%. The majority of litter was associated
with tourism activities that were represented, basically, by food pack­
aging, cups, straws, cigarette butts, and caps/lids.
Considering the influence of the tourists on the litter presence on the
Abaís beach, the municipality of Estância must provide bins on the
beach and strategic sites on the beachfront in order to promote the
adequate storage of litter. In addition, it is essential to adopt efficient
management strategies with adequate cleaning frequency and final
disposal on landfill, considering the establishment of partnerships with
local cooperatives of waste pickers. Undeniably, the participation of the
public authorities plays an important role in the implementation of
practices that establish the reduction and restriction of single-use plas­
tics, mainly in coastal cities, through the creation of laws. Another
important suggestion is to develop periodic environmental education
activities, mainly in the Summer, aimed at the beachgoers, residents,
and traders, in order to provide changes in their habits and behaviors,
discussing about the impacts of marine litter, and teaching practices to
reduce, reuse and recycle. Environmental education actions about the
protection of sea turtles developed by the Projeto Tamar (Tamar, 2021),
as well as projects from universities as Projeto EMANE - Ecologia
Marinha na Escola (Emane, 2017) that promoted several actions of
environmental awareness, reinforcing the need to carry out frequent
environmental campaigns about the marine environment embracing
different education levels. Finally, it is urging the improvement of
wastewater treatment infrastructures and clean services in the village
would avoid eventual irregular disposals of litter at Abaís beach.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
FN: Methodology; Formal analysis; Investigation; Writing - Original
Draft; Writing - Review & Editing. AS: Methodology; Investigation. JN:
Conceptualization; Validation; Writing - Review & Editing; Supervision.
F.S. de Melo Nobre et al.
Fig. 4. Bins installed in the Orlinha at Abaís beach in January/2018. Most of the collectors were full of litter (a) and/or deteriorated (b).
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
We thank Centro TAMAR (Fábio Lira and Carolina Corrêa) and UFS
for the logistic support, APA Sul (Paulo César Umbelino) for the initial
housing support, and all the volunteers who helped in the collection of
the marine litter, even during the weekends. We also thank CAPES -
Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Brasil)
(PROEF 88881.157440/2017-01) for financially supporting field
collections.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112700.
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