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This paper looks at experiential feedback and the technical and scientific challenges tied to the MERITE-HIPPOCAMPE cruise that took place in the Mediterranean Sea in spring 2019. This cruise proposes an innovative approach to investigate the accumulation and transfer of inorganic and organic contaminants within the planktonic food webs. We present detailed information on how the cruise worked, including 1) the cruise track and sampling stations, 2) the overall strategy, based mainly on the collection of plankton, suspended particles and water at the deep chlorophyll maximum, and the separation of these particles and planktonic organisms into various size fractions, as well as the collection of atmospheric deposition, 3) the operations performed and material used at each station, and 4) the sequence of operations and main parameters analysed. The paper also provides the main environmental conditions that were prevailing during the campaign. Lastly, we present the types of articles produced based on work completed by the cruise that are part of this special issue., Competing Interests: 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., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We present here the first estimates of floating macro-litter in surface waters from the Rhone River, based on monthly visual observations during 1-year period (2016-2017). Plastic represented 77% of the identified items, confirming its predominance in riverine floating litter. Fragments (2.5-50 cm) and Single Use Plastics (i.e. bags, bottles and cover/packaging) were among the most abundant items. Frequent non-plastic floating litter were paper items such as packaging material and newspapers, and metal items (mostly cans), representing 14% and 5% of total litter, respectively. A lower-end estimate resulted in ∼223,000 plastic items (∼0.7 t of plastic) transported annually by the Rhone surface waters to the Gulf of Lion (NW Mediterranean Sea). Floating macro-plastics are only a fraction of the total plastic export by the Rhone. Our study highlights the current discrepancy between field observations and theoretical estimations. Improvements are needed to harmonize data collection methodologies for field studies and model validation., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)