Title: Seasonal investigation of marine litter on beaches of Urla (Izmir/Turkey)
Abstract: In this study, types and quantities of marine litter in Urla (İzmir) Kum Denizi Beach and Demircili Koyu Beach were determined seasonally between October 2017 and October 2018. At the beaches, marine litter larger than 2,5 centimetres were collected with 3 people along 2-meter lines, which are determined to be parallel to the sea. The collected litters were classified according to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP, 2009), quantities were determined and the pollution status of the beaches was evaluated according to the Clean Coast Index. A total of 1,265 litter from Kum Denizi Beach and 2,099 litter from Demircili Koyu Beach were collected. In total, 3,364 pieces of litter weighing 90.81 kg were collected from the two beaches. Among the litters collected, plastic litter was found to be dominant with 2,794 pieces. This was followed by 145 metals, 141 papers, 110 fabrics, 87 foam plastics, 42 wood, 32 glass, 8 other litters and 5 rubber. Given the seasonal averages of the clean coast index values; Kum Denizi Beach was found to be clean and Demircili Koyu Beach was found to be moderately polluted.