Evaluating the Status of Marine Plastic Pollution Along a Tourist Beach of Bay of Bengal During Lockdown and Post Lockdown

Marine plastic pollution is a global issue that has recently attracted the attention of the authorities, with new environmental goals because of calamitous consequences of the global economy, biodiversity, human health, and the climate. This issue harms marine organisms, ecological processes, aesthetics, and the economy of the maritime nations. Several studies have been conducted for the estimation of marine debris and plastics along the Indian coasts. However, a few of the studies were carried out on the Gopalpur beach. The current survey is conducted on plastic debris along the Gopalpur coast, a tourist beach during lockdown (April-August 2021) and post lockdown (August-September 2021). It covered 1500m along the coast, divided into 10 equal zones (20×150 m2) to collect the plastic debris based on colour, density, and weight. Plastic debris was identified in 33 categories during lockdown and 34 in post lockdown. The previous survey data shows the average occurrence of plastic debris on the beach was 1.6 gm/m2, 3.6 gm/m2, and 4.82 gm/m2 in 2018, 2019, and 2021, respectively. The average plastic debris collected during the lockdown period was 1.276 g/m2 and post lockdown period was 3.34 g/m2. The results imply the fact that tourism has a greater impact on the beach in terms of plastic pollution when compared with the local sources. Although this beach falls into the clean category, pollutants can still have a drastic effect on the aesthetics of the beach as well as on the neighbouring turtle nesting site and indirectly on human health. Thus, it is recommended the authorities must focus on the reduction of plastic waste and sustainable consumption of plastics on the beach as well as in the surrounding waters