Abundance, composition and sources of beach litter on the Cape Verdean island Sao Vicente

This study represents the first assessment of beach litter on an island of the west African archipelagic state of Cape Verde. On five beaches of Sa similar to o Vicente, litter was collected along transects and classified according to the OSPAR protocol, with the Matrix Scoring Technique used to allocate it to four sources. Beach litter on Sa similar to o Vicente is highly variable in both amount and composition, while land-and sea-based sources contribute to litter loads to different extents depending on the use and geographic orientation of the beach. Four of the five surveyed beaches exhibited litter loads that were similar to pollution levels previously described for other oceanic islands, while a north-eastern-facing beach featured exceptionally high loads. This was presumably because it receives litter from distant sources due to its exposure to a major ocean surface current.

Automated summary

This study conducted the first assessment of beach litter on an island of Cape Verde. The study found that beach litter on Sa similar to o Vicente is highly variable in both amount and composition, with land-and sea-based sources contributing to litter loads to different extents.