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IntroductionAdvances in molecular methods provide new opportunities for directly measuring pathogens or host-associated markers of fecal pollution instead of relying on fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) alone for beach water quality monitoring. Adoption of new indicators depends on identifying relationships between either the presence or concentration of the indicators and illness among swimmers. Here we present results from three epidemiologic studies in which a broad range of bacterial and viral indicators of fecal contamination were measured simultaneously by either culture or molecular methods along with Enterococcus to assess whether they provide better health risk prediction than current microbial indicators of recreational water quality.MethodsWe conducted prospective cohort studies at three California beaches -- Avalon Bay (Avalon), Doheny State Beach (Doheny), Surfrider State Beach (Malibu) -- during the summers of 2007, 2008 and 2009. The studies enrolled 10,785 swimmers across the beaches and recorded each swimmer's water exposure. Water and sand samples were collected several times per day at multiple locations at each beach and analyzed for up to 41 target indicators using 67 different methodologies. Interviewers contacted participants by phone 10-14 days later and recorded symptoms of gastrointestinal illness occurring after their beach visit. Regression models were used to evaluate the association between water quality indicators and gastrointestinal illness among swimmers at each beach.ResultsF+ coliphage (measured using EPA Method 1602) exhibited a stronger association with GI illness than did EPA Method 1600 at the two beaches where it was measured, while a molecular method, F+ RNA Coliphage Genotype II, was the only indicator significantly associated with GI illness at Malibu. MRSA, a known pathogen, had the strongest association with GI illness of any microbe measured at Avalon. There were two methods targeting human-associated fecal anaerobic bacteria that were more strongly associated with GI illness than EPA Method 1600, but only at Avalon. No indicator combinations consistently had a higher odds ratio than EPA Method 1600, but one composite indicator, based on the number of pathogens detected at a beach, was significantly associated with gastrointestinal illness at both Avalon and Doheny when freshwater flow was high.DiscussionWhile EPA Method1600 performed adequately at two beaches based on its consistency of association with gastrointestinal illness and the precision of its estimated associations, F+ coliphage measured by EPA Method 1602 had a stronger association with GI illness under high risk conditions at the two beaches where it was measured. One indicator, F+ Coliphage Genotype II was the only indicator significantly associated with GI illness at Malibu. Several indicators, particularly those targeting human associated bacteria, exhibited relationships with GI illness that were equal to or greater than that of EPA Method 1600 at Avalon, which has a focused human fecal source. Our results suggest that site-specific conditions at each beach determine which indicator or indicators best predict GI illness.

Research has shown that blue space (i.e. water-based environments) can be good for physical and mental health, with one possible reason being that people are physically active when visiting blue space environments. However, little is known about how active people are when visiting blue space. We used the System for Observing Physical Activity and Recreation in Natural Areas to systematically record whether people were active while visiting eight different blue space locations in Australia. We first calculated the proportion of people who were moderately or vigorously active at each location and then conducted a series of linear regression models to determine which demographic and environmental factors predicted higher activity levels. We identified that 44% of people visiting blue space locations were active. However, there were significant interactions between both age and gender, and type of blue space. Males (β = -0.25, p = 0.018) and females (β = -0.26, p ≤ 0.001) were less active at built-up riverfronts than coastal beaches. Females were also less active at inland beaches (β = -0.15, p = 0.013) and watering holes (β = -0.20, p = 0.011) compared with coastal beaches. Children (β = 0.16, p = 0.006) and adolescents, however, were more active at inland beaches (β = 0.32, p ≤ 0.001) than coastal beaches. These results are important to consider when making decisions around access to, and infrastructure within, blue space environments, as different blue space environments influence human behaviour differently for different people., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press.)

Recreational bathing waters are complex systems with diverse inputs from multiple anthropogenic and zoogenic sources of faecal contamination. Faecal contamination is a substantial threat to water quality and public health. Here we present a comprehensive strategy to estimate the contribution of faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) from different biological sources on two at-risk beaches in Dublin, Ireland. The daily FIB loading rate was determined for three sources of contamination: a sewage-impacted urban stream, dog and wild bird fouling. This comparative analysis determined that the stream contributed the highest daily levels of FIB, followed by dog fouling. Dog fouling may be a significant source of FIB, contributing approximately 20 % of E. coli under certain conditions, whereas wild bird fouling contributed a negligible proportion of FIB (<3 %). This study demonstrates that source-specific quantitative microbial source apportionment (QMSA) strategies are vital to identify primary public health risks and target interventions to mitigate faecal contamination., 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 © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

This study assessed the effects of pollutants on Magallana gigas along a coastal zone with different levels of human activity: a highly impacted zone in the Bahía Blanca Estuary and a less impacted zone on the adjacent sandy beaches. Oysters collected in 2021 were analyzed for various factors, including metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organochlorine pesticides, microplastics, oxidative stress and histology. Oysters of both environments exhibited detectable concentrations of all these pollutants in their tissues. However, the estuarine oysters showed higher concentrations of Zn, Cu and As and total PAHs than the beach oysters. Banned organochlorine pesticides were detected only in beach oysters. Estuarine oysters displayed morphological changes in their digestive gland including a reduction in the mean epithelial thickness of the tubule and elevated lipid peroxidation levels, indicating cellular damage. This study underscores the widespread presence of pollutants in M. gigas, indicating the need for effective strategies to safeguard coastal ecosystem health., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This paper uses a particle tracking model to simulate the distribution of fishing-related marine-sourced plastic litter from demersal trawling activities along the Atlantic coast of Scotland. The modelled fishing litter dispersed widely across the region, with ∼50% of the particles beaching along the northwestern Scottish coast after a year-long simulation. The model was tuned using observations of beached litter loadings along the same coastline to estimate the annual input, by mass, of small (<1 kg) plastic litter. Model results suggest that between 107 g and 280 g of small fishing-related litter enters the ocean per hour of fishing, resulting in an estimated 234 t to 614 t of small fishing-related litter entering the ocean annually on the Scottish west coast. These results suggest that fishing on the Atlantic coast of Scotland may be a significant source of marine plastic. However, more modelled and observational data are required to reduce uncertainty., 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 © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Marine plastic litter (MPL) was collected from beaches (n = 3) of the Arauco Gulf in central Chile in spring 2021 and summer 2022. MPL was analyzed for physical and chemical characteristics, and plasticizers were also screened using FTIR-ATR. Three hundred seventeen plastic items with an accumulated weight of 226.8 g were found. MPL densities ranged from 0.4 to 17.1 items m -2 . Significant differences (p < 0.05) between seasons were observed for Arauco and Maule beaches, being ∼ten times higher in summer compared to spring. Solid pieces were the predominant shape, macroplastics were the most abundant (>2.5 cm), and white and blue colors were dominant. Polypropylene (52 %) and polyethylene (31 %) were the predominant polymers. Plasticizers (n = 3) were detected in the MPL in the study area (dioctyl phthalate, polybutene, and alpha-methylstyrene) for the first time. This study contributes new information related to MPL in coastal areas of central Chile and their chemical composition., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The number of gray seals (Halichoerus grypus) observed along the United States Northwest Atlantic region has been increasing for decades. These colonial animals often haul-out on beaches seasonally in numbers ranging from a few individuals to several thousands. While these larger aggregations are an important part of gray seal behavior, there is public concern that haul-outs could lead to large amounts of fecal waste in recreational areas, potentially resulting in beach closures. Yet, data to confirm whether these animals contribute to beach closures is lacking and minimal information is available on the occurrence of key water quality monitoring genetic markers in gray seal scat. This study evaluates the concentration of E. coli (EC23S857), enterococci (Entero1a), and fecal Bacteroidetes (GenBac3) as well as six fecal source identification genetic markers (HF183/BacR287, HumM2, CPQ&#95;056, Rum2Bac, DG3, and GFD) measured by qPCR in 48 wild gray seal scat samples collected from two haul-out areas in Cape Cod (Massachusetts, U.S.A.). Findings indicate that FIB genetic markers are shed in gray seal scat at significantly different concentrations with the Entero1a genetic marker exhibiting the lowest average concentration (-0.73 log 10 estimated mean copies per nanogram of DNA). In addition, systematic testing of scat samples demonstrated that qPCR assays targeting host-associated genetic markers indicative of human, ruminant, and canine fecal pollution sources remain highly specific in waters frequented by gray seals (>97 % specificity)., 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., (Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Sandy beaches are dynamic environments housing a large diversity of organisms and providing important environmental services. Meiofaunal metazoan are small organisms that play a key role in the sediment. Their diversity, distribution and composition are driven by sedimentary and oceanographic parameters. Understanding the diversity patterns of marine meiofauna is critical in a changing world., Methods: In this study, we investigate if there is seasonal difference in meiofaunal assemblage composition and diversity along 1 year and if the marine seascapes dynamics (water masses with particular biogeochemical features, characterized by temperature, salinity, absolute dynamic topography, chromophoric dissolved organic material, chlorophyll-a, and normalized fluorescent line height), rainfall, and sediment parameters (total organic matter, carbonate, carbohydrate, protein, lipids, protein-to-carbohydrate, carbohydrate-to-lipids, and biopolymeric carbon) affect significatively meiofaunal diversity at a tropical sandy beach. We tested two hypotheses here: (i) meiofaunal diversity is higher during warmer months and its composition changes significatively among seasons along a year at a tropical sandy beach, and (ii) meiofaunal diversity metrics are significantly explained by marine seascapes characteristics and sediment parameters. We used metabarcoding (V9 hypervariable region from 18S gene) from sediment samples to assess the meiofaunal assemblage composition and diversity (phylogenetic diversity and Shannon's diversity) over a period of 1 year., Results: Meiofauna was dominated by Crustacea (46% of sequence reads), Annelida (28% of sequence reads) and Nematoda (12% of sequence reads) in periods of the year with high temperatures (>25 °C), high salinity (>31.5 ppt), and calm waters. Our data support our initial hypotheses revealing a higher meiofaunal diversity (phylogenetic and Shannon's Diversity) and different composition during warmer periods of the year. Meiofaunal diversity was driven by a set of multiple variables, including biological variables (biopolymeric carbon) and organic matter quality (protein content, lipid content, and carbohydrate-to-lipid ratio)., Competing Interests: Angelo F Bernardino is an Academic Editor for PeerJ., (© 2024 Coppo et al.)

Background: Microplastics (MPs) are pervasive pollutants in the marine environment, exhibiting persistence in coastal sediment over extended periods. However, the mechanism of their uptake by marine organisms and distribution in habitat is less understood. The objective of the present study was to investigate the presence of MP contamination in burrow sediment, feeding pellets, and tissue of Dotilla blanfordi in the Gulf of Kachchh, Gujarat State., Methods: A total of 500 g of burrow sediment, 100 g of feeding pellets, and body tissue of 10 resident D. blanfordi were pooled as one replica. Such seven replicas from each site were analyzed for MP extraction from three sites, including Asharmata, Mandvi, and Serena, located in the Gulf of Kachchh. The standard protocol was used during the analysis of the collected samples in order to isolate MPs., Results: The abundance of MP was found higher in burrow sediment, feeding pellets and tissue of D. blanfordi at study site Mandvi, followed by Serena and Asharmata. The abundance of MP was found higher in D. blanfordi tissue, followed by burrow sediment and feeding pellet. A significant variation was observed in MP abundance among burrow sediment, feeding pellets, and tissue. MPs with various shapes (fiber, film, and fragment), sizes (1-2, 2-3, 3-4, and 4-5 mm), and colors (blue, green, black, pink, purple, red transparent) were recorded from all the study sites. Polyurethane and polyvinyl chloride were recognized as the chemical profile of the extracted MPs. The current investigation revealed greater accumulation of MPs in D. blanfordi 's tissues compared to sediment and pellets, suggesting a risk of MP contamination in marine benthic fauna with a greater rate of bioaccumulation. D. blanfordi plays a significant role as a structuring agent for MP distribution in the intertidal flat through burrowing activity., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2024 Zala et al.)

Beached macrolitter (>2,5 cm) abundance and composition in the Russian (Eastern) part of the Barents Sea and the adjacent part of the Kara Sea was assessed for 2021-2023. Average densities of beach litter on the coasts are 675 items/100 m and 37 kg/100 m (0.27 items/m 2 and 0.015 kg/m 2 ). Annual litter budgets for Cape Zhelaniya beaches are 0.49 items/m 2 per year and 0.023 kg/m 2 per year. The northernmost tip of Novaya Zemlya is shown to be a beach litter accumulation hot-spot on Novaya Zemlya archipelago, where litter is brought by surface currents and trapped by sea ice margins. Up to 80 % of beached marine macrolitter is made of plastics, originating from vessels. A certain accumulation strip of a beach was identified (14 m - 27.5 m distance from the waterline), and significance of the beach backshore was shown in litter accumulation. Beach litter accounting methodologies on the Arctic beaches are discussed., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Island coastal zones are often mistakenly perceived as "ecological desert". Actually, they harbour unique communities of organisms. The biodiversity on islands is primarily influenced by the effects of area and isolation (distance from the mainland), which mainly focused on plants and animals, encompassing studies of entire islands. However, the application of area and isolation effects to soil microorganisms on island beaches across the intertidal zones remains largely unexplored. We hypothesized that island area and isolation shape soil bacterial communities by regulating soil properties on island beaches, due to the fact that local soil properties might be strongly influenced by land-use, which may vary among islands of different sizes and isolations. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a study on 108 plots spanning 4 intertidal zones on 9 representative island beaches within Zhoushan Archipelago, eastern China. We employed one-way ANOVA and Tukey's honestly significant difference (HSD) test to assess the differences in diversity, composition of soil bacterial communities and soil properties among intertidal zones. Redundancy analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) were used to examine the direct and indirect impacts of beach area and isolation on soil bacterial communities. Our findings revealed that the area and isolation did not significantly influence soil bacterial diversity and the relative abundance of dominant soil bacterial phyla. However, soil nitrogen (soil N), phosphorus (soil P), organic carbon (SOC), available potassium content (soil AK), and electrical conductivity (soil EC) showed significant increases with the area and isolation. As the tidal gradient increased on beaches, soil bacterial OTU richness, Chao 1, and relative abundance of Planctomycetota and Crenarchaeota decreased, while relative abundance of other soil bacterial phyla increased. We found that influences of island area and isolation shape soil bacterial communities on beaches by regulating soil properties, particularly soil moisture, salinity, and nutrients, all of which are also influenced by area and isolation. Island with larger areas and in lower intertidal zones, characterized by higher soil water content (SWC), soil EC, and soil AK, exhibited greater soil bacterial diversity and fewer dominant soil bacterial phyla. Conversely, in the higher intertidal zones with vegetation containing higher soil N and SOC, lower soil bacterial diversity and more dominant soil bacterial phyla were observed. These findings have the potential to enhance our new understanding of how island biogeography in interpreting island biome patterns., 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 © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) conduces massive environmental accumulation due to its high production and recalcitrance to environment. In this study, We successfully enriched and isolated two strains, Nitratireductor sp. Z-1 and Gordonia sp. Z-2, from coastal plastic debris capable of degrading LDPE film. After a 30-day incubation at 30 ℃, strains Z-1 and Z-2 decreased the weight of branched-LDPE (BLDPE) film by 2.59 % and 10.27 % respectively. Furthermore, high temperature gel permeation chromatography (HT-GPC) analysis revealed molecular weight reductions of 7.69 % (Z-1) and 23.22 % (Z-2) in the BLDPE film. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) image showed the presence of microbial colonization and perforations on the film's surface. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis indicated novel functional groups, such as carbonyl and carbon-carbon double bonds in LDPE films. During LDPE degradation, both strains produced extracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). GC-MS analysis revealed the degradation products included short-chain alkanes, alkanols, fatty acids, and esters. Genomic analysis identified numerous extracellular enzymes potentially involved in LDPE chain scission. A model was proposed suggesting a coordinated role between ROS and extracellular enzymes in the biodegradation of LDPE. This indicates strains Z-1 and Z-2 can degrade LDPE, providing a basis for deeper exploration of biodegradation mechanisms., 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 © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Cyanobacterial blooms are increasingly common in freshwater sources used for swimming and other recreational water contact activities in Canada. Many species of cyanobacteria can produce toxins that affect human and animal health, but there are limited data on the risk of illness associated with water contact at impacted beaches., Methods and Analysis: This study will investigate the incidence of recreational water illness due to exposure to cyanobacterial blooms and their toxins in four targeted and popular freshwater beaches in Ontario, Manitoba and Nova Scotia, Canada. A prospective cohort design and One Health approach will be used. On-site recruitment of recreational water users will be conducted at two beaches per year during the summers of 2024 and 2025. The population of interest includes recreational water users of any age and their pet dogs. After enrolment, an in-person survey will determine beach exposures and confounding factors, and a 3-day follow-up survey will ascertain any acute illness outcomes experienced by participants or their dogs. The target sample size is 2500 recreational water users. Water samples will be taken each recruitment day and analysed for cyanobacterial indicators (pigments), cell counts and toxin levels. Bayesian regression analysis will be conducted to estimate the association with water contact, cyanobacterial levels and risks of different acute illness outcomes., Ethics and Dissemination: This study has been approved by the Toronto Metropolitan University Research Ethics Board (REB 2023-461). Study results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and as infographics on a project website., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Beach variants of popular sports like soccer and handball have grown in participation over the last decade. However, the characterization of the workload demands in beach sports remains limited compared to their indoor equivalents. This systematic review aimed to: (1) characterize internal and external loads during beach invasion sports match-play; (2) identify technologies and metrics used for monitoring; (3) compare the demands of indoor sports; and (4) explore differences by competition level, age, sex, and beach sport. Fifteen studies ultimately met the inclusion criteria. The locomotive volumes averaged 929 ± 269 m (average) and 16.5 ± 3.3 km/h (peak) alongside 368 ± 103 accelerations and 8 ± 4 jumps per session. The impacts approached 700 per session. The heart rates reached 166-192 beats per minute (maximal) eliciting 60-95% intensity. The player load was 12.5 ± 2.9 to 125 ± 30 units. Males showed 10-15% higher external but equivalent internal loads versus females. Earlier studies relied solely on a time-motion analysis, while recent works integrate electronic performance and tracking systems, enabling a more holistic quantification. However, substantial metric intensity zone variability persists. Beach sports entail intermittent high-intensity activity with a lower-intensity recovery. Unstable surface likely explains the heightened internal strain despite moderately lower running volumes than indoor sports. The continued integration of technology together with the standardization of workload intensity zones is needed to inform a beach-specific training prescription.

Objective: Data on drownings tend to underestimate mortality from this cause. The objective of this study was to describe fatal drownings recorded in Catalonia between 2019 and 2022 through forensic sources, present their characteristics, and assess the utility of this information for monitoring drowning mortality., Methods: A retrospective observational study based on the register of judicial deaths from the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of Catalonia was carried out. Data on medicolegal aetiology, aquatic environment, age, gender, date of death, and municipality of origin were analysed. Statistical analysis was based on the comparison of proportions test based on Chi-square for categorical variables and the Mann Whitney U test for the comparison of numerical variables., Results: A total of 310 drownings were recorded, with a mean age of 57.2 years and a male predominance (77.1%). The majority of drownings were unintentional (71.3%), followed by suicides (15.5%), and cases of undetermined intent (12.6%). Compared to intentional drownings, unintentional and undetermined intent drownings had a higher percentage of males than females (81.2% vs. 56%, p<0.001), and fewer cases with Spanish nationality than foreign or undetermined nationality (60% vs. 92%, p<0.001). Middle-aged and older individuals accounted for the majority of deaths, but among unintentional drownings, those recorded in pools included significantly higher percentages of children and adolescents aged zero-fourteen years than those occurring in natural waters., Conclusions: The results highlight the importance of drowning mortality in Catalonia and the need to strengthen preventive activities, especially for children and during episodes of intense heat. Medicolegal sources are useful for monitoring drowning mortality, but it would be beneficial if they incorporated information on variables such as place of residence and nationality., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Microplastics, plastic particles 5 mm or less in size, are abundant in the environment; hence, the exposure of humans to microplastics is a great concern. Usually, the surface of microplastics found in the environment has undergone degradation by external factors such as ultraviolet rays and water waves. One of the characteristics of changes caused by surface degradation of microplastics is the introduction of oxygen-containing functional groups. Surface degradation alters the physicochemical properties of plastics, suggesting that the biological effects of environmentally degraded plastics may differ from those of pure plastics. However, the biological effects of plastics introduced with oxygen-containing functional groups through degradation are poorly elucidated owing to the lack of a plastic sample that imitates the degradation state of plastics found in the environment. In this study, we investigated the degradation state of microplastics collected from a beach. Next, we degraded a commercially available polyethylene (PE) particles via vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) irradiation and showed that chemical surface state of PE imitates that of microplastics in the environment. We evaluated the cytotoxic effects of degraded PE samples on immune and epithelial cell lines. We found that VUV irradiation was effective in degrading PE within a short period, and concentration-dependent cytotoxicity was induced by degraded PE in all cell lines. Our results indicate that the cytotoxic effect of PE on different cell types depends on the degree of microplastic degradation, which contributes to our understanding of the effects of PE microplastics on humans., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Yudai Ikuno reports financial support was provided by Japan Science and Technology Agency. Yasuo Tsutsumi reports was provided by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Hirofumi Tsujino reports financial support was provided by Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare. Yasuo Tsutsumi reports financial support was provided by The Sumitomo Foundation for Environmental Research Projects., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this study, we analyzed the biological descriptors and functional traits of the benthic community inhabiting the water/bottom layer in the surf zones of three sandy beaches: a tide-dominated flat, and two intermediate beaches, from tide-modified to wave-dominated. Samples were collected seasonally in the inner surf zone by hand-towing a benthic sledge equipped with two nets, one above the other, across transects parallel to the shore, capturing the benthic community in two levels, close to the seafloor. A total of 116 species were collected, with a total of 327,678 specimens. Arthropods were 99.63% of all individuals caught across the three beaches, mainly represented by peracarid crustaceans. An important species turnover was detected along the shore, with a significant change in community composition. The biological descriptors and some functional traits vary among beaches: the total density, the density of individuals of small (5-10 mm length) and very small sizes (<5 mm length), the density of larval forms, and the presence of colonial species were higher in the tide-dominated flat (sometimes also in the tide-modified beach). More arthropods and more mobile individuals were found in those beaches, while mollusks and sedentary individuals were found in high number in the wave-dominated beach. Stratification was present across the three studied beaches, with higher densities in the near-bottom layer. In the tide-dominated beach, there was also a higher richness in this layer, with a nested community between levels. In the wave-dominated beach, similar richness was registered between levels, with a different community composition (and some differences in functional traits), indicating that some species can maintain their position close to the bottom despite the turbulent conditions experienced on this beach. Differences in wave conditions among beach types could be an important factor driving the biological descriptors and functional traits of the benthic community in surf zone ecosystems. Therefore, acknowledging their role is crucial in deciphering global patterns in surf zone biodiversity., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The accumulation of heavy metals from sewage and garbage dumping can seriously impact beach tourism and thus the local economy, but it is difficult to quickly and accurately determine the pollution location and source of heavy metals and clarify their diffusion range. This study investigates a new in situ magnetic testing method to address this issue. (1) The in situ method can be used to effectively and quickly evaluate heavy metal sources and diffusion ranges based on the distribution of κ values. (2) According to chemical experiments, the specific elements polluting a beach can be determined, such as the Cr, Ni, Zn, and Fe pollution of Beach No. 3. (3) Although κ values for assessing heavy metal pollution on different beaches vary, metal pollution occurs when the higher κ value is more than 50 times the lower κ value on the same beach. (4) The κ values vary in different seasons due to the influence of natural factors and urban seasonal sewage policies., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Organic UV filters are emerging contaminants in personal care products such as sunscreens. The toxicity of numerous of these UV filter compounds has been demonstrated in several marine taxa. However, whilst the biological impact has already been largely demonstrated, the anthropogenic drivers leading to UV filter contamination still need to be identified. In this work, a survey was conducted on a site of the French Atlantic Coast (i) to describe beachgoers' behaviours (sunscreen use and beach frequentation), (ii) provide an estimation of the UV filters released at sea and (iii) highlight the effect of air temperature on these behaviours and on the release of UV filters. In parallel with these estimations of the UV filters released at sea, in situ chemical measurements were performed. By comparing the results of both approaches, this interdisciplinary work provides an insight of how the observations of beachgoers' behaviour modulations and attendance level fluctuations could be used to prevent UV filter contaminations and ultimately manage the ecotoxicological risk., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The continuous endemic of the new SARS-CoV-2 virus brought a halt to the world's activities from February 2020. Our study intends to gauge public perceptions on the consequences of post-pandemic changes on the marine environment, particularly as they are related to tourist beach amenities. Totally, 16 nations' knowledge and views on various environmental viewpoints over the effects of epidemic were gathered through public polls live on social media during social confinement in 2020. The results indicate that around 85% of respondents were most concerned about the alarming sights of widespread plastic trash and the increase of dangerous biomedical wastes through wastewater in the marine ecosystem. The outcomes of this study will undoubtedly aid in the establishment of a management strategy and for future studies on the consequences of any epidemic on the beaches., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Enclosed beaches along urban coastlines are frequent hot spots of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) pollution. In this paper we present field measurements and modeling studies aimed at evaluating the impact of small storm drains on FIB pollution at enclosed beaches in Newport Bay, the second largest tidal embayment in Southern California. Our results suggest that small drains have a disproportionate impact on enclosed beach water quality for five reasons: (1) dry weather surface flows (primarily from overirrigation of lawns and ornamental plants) harbor FIB at concentrations exceeding recreational water quality criteria; (2) small drains can trap dry weather runoff during high tide, and then release it in a bolus during the falling tide when drainpipe outlets are exposed; (3) nearshore turbulence is low (turbulent diffusivities approximately 10(-3) m(2) s(-1)), limiting dilution of FIB and other runoff-associated pollutants once they enter the bay; (4) once in the bay, runoff can form buoyant plumes that further limit vertical mixing and dilution; and (5) local winds can force buoyant runoff plumes back against the shoreline, where water depth is minimal and human contact likely. Outdoor water conservation and urban retrofits that minimize the volume of dry and wet weather runoff entering the local storm drain system may be the best option for improving beach water quality in Newport Bay and other urban-impacted enclosed beaches.

Use of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) for monitoring beach water quality is based on their co-occurrence with human pathogens, a relationship that can be dramatically altered by fate and transport processes after leaving the human intestine. We conducted a prospective cohort study at Avalon Beach, California (USA), where the indicator relationship is potentially affected by the discharge of sewage-contaminated groundwater and by solar radiation levels at this shallow, relatively quiescent beach. The goals of this study were to determine: 1) if swimmers exposed to marine water were at higher risk of illness than non-swimmers; 2) if FIB measured in marine water were associated with swimmer illness, and; 3) if the associations between FIB and swimmer health were modified by either submarine groundwater discharge or solar radiation levels. There were 7317 individuals recruited during the summers of 2007-08, 6165 (84%) of whom completed follow-up within two weeks of the beach visit. A total of 703 water quality samples were collected across multiple sites and time periods during recruitment days and analyzed for FIB using both culture-based and molecular methods. Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) indicated that swimmers who swallowed water were more likely to experience Gastrointestinal Illness (GI Illness) within three days of their beach visit than non-swimmers, and that this risk was significantly elevated when either submarine groundwater discharge was high (AOR [95% CI]:2.18 [1.22-3.89]) or solar radiation was low (2.45 [1.25-4.79]). The risk of GI Illness was not significantly elevated for swimmers who swallowed water when groundwater discharge was low or solar radiation was high. Associations between GI Illness incidence and FIB levels (Enterococcus EPA Method 1600) among swimmers who swallowed water were not significant when we did not account for groundwater discharge, but were strongly associated when groundwater discharge was high (1.85 [1.06, 3.23]) compared to when it was low (0.77 [0.42, 1.42]; test of interaction: P = 0.03). These results demonstrate the need to account for local environmental conditions when monitoring for, and making decisions about, public health at recreational beaches. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

BackgroundStudies of health risks associated with recreational water exposure require investigators to make choices about water quality indicator averaging techniques, exposure definitions, follow-up periods, and model specifications; however, investigators seldom describe the impact of these choices on reported results. Our objectives are to report illness risk from swimming at a marine beach affected by nonpoint sources of urban runoff, measure associations between fecal indicator bacteria levels and subsequent illness among swimmers, and investigate the sensitivity of results to a range of exposure and outcome definitions.MethodsIn 2009, we enrolled 5674 people in a prospective cohort at Malibu Beach, a coastal marine beach in California, and measured daily health symptoms 10-19 days later. Concurrent water quality samples were analyzed for indicator bacteria using culture and molecular methods. We compared illness risk between nonswimmers and swimmers, and among swimmers exposed to various levels of fecal indicator bacteria.ResultsDiarrhea was more common among swimmers than nonswimmers (adjusted odds ratio = 1.88 [95% confidence interval = 1.09-3.24]) within 3 days of the beach visit. Water quality was generally good (fecal indicator bacteria levels exceeded water quality guidelines for only 7% of study samples). Fecal indicator bacteria levels were not consistently associated with swimmer illness. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that overall inference was not substantially affected by the choice of exposure and outcome definitions.ConclusionsThis study suggests that the 3 days following a beach visit may be the most relevant period for health outcome measurement in recreational water studies. Under the water quality conditions observed in this study, fecal indicator bacteria levels were not associated with swimmer illness.

Tourism pressure on the Red Sea ecosystem have posed significant threats to numerous endemic species, including the Ghost Crab Ocypode saratan, which is exclusively found along a small stretch of beach in the Eilat/Aqaba Red Sea Gulf. Due to the limited understanding of their ecology, we investigated how tourism impacts the behavior of this species. Employing a natural setup, we compared burrow dimensions, pyramid structures, and density across three distinct beach sections subjected to varying levels of human interference. Access to a secluded beach, referred to as "No Man's Land," provided a crucial control for our study. This facilitated a comparative analysis of ghost crab activity among beaches experiencing differing levels of human disturbances: (1) a tourist beach characterized by continual high disturbance, (2) a naval beach subject to moderate and sporadic disturbances, and (3) the isolated "no man's land" beach devoid of human presence. Our observations revealed notable differences in ghost crab density among the three beaches. Furthermore, we observed that on the secluded beach, larger individuals tended to establish burrows farther from the waterline and construct taller sand pyramids. Given the significance of sexual selection processes, their conservation becomes imperative for the survival and potential expansion of the ghost crab population across the Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba. We propose a straight-forward and cost-effective strategy: the designation of short, secluded beach enclaves along this gulf. We believe that this approach will mitigate adverse impacts of tourisms while simultaneously benefiting various sandy beach species., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Erosion poses a significant threat to oceanic beaches worldwide. To combat this threat, management agencies often utilize renourishment, which supplements eroded beaches with offsite sand. This process can alter the physical characteristics of the beach and can influence the presence and abundance of microbial communities. In this study, we examined how an oceanic beach renourishment project may have impacted the presence and abundance of Escherichia coli (E. coli), a common bacteria species, and sand grain size, a sediment characteristic that can influence bacterial persistence. Using an observational field approach, we quantified the presence and abundance of E. coli in sand (from sub-tidal, intertidal, and dune zones on the beach) and water samples at study sites in both renourished and non-renourished sections of Folly Beach, South Carolina, USA in 2014 and 2015. In addition, we also measured how renourishment may have impacted sand grain size by quantifying the relative frequency of grain sizes (from sub-tidal, intertidal, and dune zones on the beach) at both renourished and non-renourished sites. Using this approach, we found that E. coli was present in sand samples in all zones of the beach and at each of our study sites in both years of sampling but never in water samples. Additionally, we found that in comparison to non-renourished sections, renourished sites had significantly higher abundances of E. coli and coarser sand grains in the intertidal zone, which is where renourished sand is typically placed. However, these differences were only present in 2014 and were not detected when we resampled the study sites in 2015. Collectively, our findings show that E. coli can be commonly found in this sandy beach microbial community. In addition, our results suggest that renourishment has the potential to alter both the physical structure of the beach and the microbial community but that these impacts may be short-lived., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Lewis et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

It is commonly assumed that beach seining (BS) is more sustainable than bottom trawling because it involves non-motorized operations and limited fishing power. However, no scientific evidence supports this assumption. To address this gap, we evaluated the impact of beach seining, taking a small-scale shrimp fishery in northeast Brazil. Data collected monthly from December 2016 to November 2017 and in literature, were assessed (BS 31,001 individuals, 119 species, 37 families, and 19 orders; BT 6,031 individuals, 58 species, 20 families, and 14 orders). Beach seining demonstrated a lower proportion of bycatch (BS 1:2.3; BT 1:3.2), higher total shrimp catch (BS 87.2 t; BT 65 t), and greater species diversity than bottom trawling catches (BS 119; BT 58). Other aspects were closer associated with bottom trawling, such as the composition of dominant families (Sciaenidae and Pristigasteridae), the proportion of rare species (BS 30%; BT 24%) juveniles (BS 11g; BT 13g), the risk of species extinction, and the composition of ecological guilds. Despite their social significance, both fishing gears showed similar ecological indicators and adverse effects. The findings establish that the ecological concerns related to the impact of bottom trawling are also applicable to beach seine.

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.

Purpose: This study explores experiences of using beach assistive technology (AT), such as beach wheelchairs, powered wheelchairs, prosthetics and crutches, to participate in sandy beach-based leisure for people with mobility limitations., Methods: Online semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 people, with mobility limitations and experience of using Beach AT. A phenomenological interpretative hermeneutic approach guided reflexive thematic analysis of verbatim transcripts., Findings: Three overarching themes were identified as: The meaning of using Beach AT, Practicalities of using Beach AT and Responses to using Beach AT. Each overarching theme was underpinned by subthemes. Meaning included: AT connects me, AT impacts my identity and AT attracts attention. Practicalities included: using AT requires other people, AT impacts spontaneity, AT limitations and AT use differs in water. Responses to using Beach AT included: I didn't think it was possible, adaptions to AT limitations and not everyone wants to own Beach AT., Conclusion: This study illustrates the use of Beach AT as a facilitator for beach leisure, enabling connections to social groups and contributing to one's identity as a beachgoer. Access to Beach AT is meaningful and may be made possible through personal Beach AT ownership or access to loaned AT. The unique nature of sand, water, and salt environments requires users to identify how they plan to use the devices, with realistic expectations that the Beach AT may not enable full independence. The study acknowledges the challenges related to size, storage, and propulsion, but emphasizes that these can be overcome through ingenuity.

Beach holidays in areas of strong sunlight are popular and sunscreen is often the primary means of photoprotection favored by many people. The object of this study was to estimate how effective sunscreen is in preventing sunburn under high ultraviolet (UV) levels. We used a computational model to determine how the quantity, frequency, substantivity, and labeled SPF of applied sunscreens impact on the predicted erythemal response in unacclimatized skin over the course of a 7-day holiday in a high-solar environment. Our results indicated that sunscreen on its own may be insufficient to prevent sunburn in white skin on a sun-seeking holiday that combines prolonged exposure with high UV levels. Nevertheless, sunscreens have a valuable role to play on a beach holiday especially if an SPF30 or higher is chosen, the product is applied liberally and uniformly, application is started early into the sun exposure period and repeated at 2-hourly intervals throughout the day, and the product binds well to the skin. The main limitation of our investigation is that it is not an observational study but rather a computational model and while all models are wrong, some, including this one, are useful., (© 2023 American Society for Photobiology.)

Background: The development of skin cancer is closely related to high exposure to UV radiation. Lifeguards are at an increased risk of excessive sun exposure., Objectives: The main objective of this study was to measure the exposure of Barcelona's beach lifeguards to UV radiation., Methods: Measurements in the work chair were taken every 30min on a typical working day from 10:45 am to 19:15 pm. These measurements were carried out on four different days. These data were used to calculate the erythematous doses received during working hours, as well as those potentially received throughout the summer season. Vitamin D production was also estimated for the four days that the radiation received was measured, and the amount generated was calculated for the entire summer season., Results: Exposure to UV radiation among Barcelona lifeguards far exceeds safety limits. In some locations, the exposure to UVB radiation is more than 16 times the minimum erythematous dose for phototype II skin., Limitations: This study assessed the radiation received during only four days. However, is a much higher number than most of the published papers., Conclusion: Although the health risks of excessive exposure to UV radiation are known, Barcelona's beach lifeguards are insufficiently protected., (Copyright © 2023 AEDV. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Background: Gastrointestinal illness refers to a broad range of diseases that affect the digestive system, including infections caused by bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) is a powerful tool used to evaluate the risks associated with microbial pathogens in various environments. The main objective of this study was to conduct a quantitative assessment of gastrointestinal illnesses that occur as a result of exposure to E. coli and enterococci during recreational activities on the southern coasts of the Caspian Sea., Methods: Samples were collected from the recreational beaches along the border line of the Caspian Sea. The samples were analyzed for the presence and enumeration of E. coli and enterococci using the microplate method and membrane filtration techniques. Then, the annual and daily infection risks were computed using the Monte Carlo simulation approach., Results: The results revealed that the risk of daily and annual infections on the coasts of Babolsar was higher than that on the coasts of Sari. Also, in the recreational waters of these beaches, the risk of infection by enterococci was higher than that posed by E. coli . In Babolsar, the average annual infection risk caused by E. coli and enterococci was 0.365 and 1 for children and 0.181 and 0.986 for adults. Also, in Sari, the average annual infection risk caused by E. coli and enterococci was 0.060 and 0.908 for children and 0.027 and 0.815 for adults. In addition, children were more likely than adults to become infected., Conclusion: In light of the study's findings, due to the entry of untreated urban wastewater into the southern part of the Caspian Sea (northern Iran) and the high risk of infectious diseases for children, more control and health measures are necessary for children's swimming., Competing Interests: 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., (© 2024 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Determining the sources of marine litter is necessary to mitigate this increasing global problem. Plastic bottles are useful tracers of marine litter and constitute the main item (24%) stranding on remote beaches in the Galapagos Islands. The aim of this study was to estimate the abundance of plastic bottles in remote beaches and inferred their sources. To do so, we collected plastic bottles at 60 remote Galapagos Island beaches from 2018 to 2022. 76% of beaches were qualified as badly polluted, with >34 bottles·100 m -1 . Most identified bottles came from Peru (71%), followed by China (17%) and Ecuador (9%). Although most locally-sold products are made in Ecuador, they contribute little to beach litter loads. Polyethylene terephthalate bottles with lid (necessary for litter dispersal) represented 88% of all bottles, demonstrating that most of the litter reaching the Galapagos comes from distant sources, mainly from South America. However, bottle ages indicate that at least 10% of Peruvian, 26% of Ecuadorian, and all Chinese bottles likely were dumped from ships. Reducing marine litter reaching the Galapagos Islands requires tackling litter leakage from land-based sources in South America and better compliance with regulations banning the dumping of plastics and other persistent wastes from ships., 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 © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Water and soft drink bottles made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sink at sea unless they contain trapped air, whereas their lids are made from polymers that float and can drift long distances. We sampled loose lids and bottles at 21 South African beaches to compare their origins. The proportions of foreign-made bottles and lids were correlated, and increased away from urban centres, indicating that much land-based litter strands close to source areas. Over 80 % of foreign-made drink bottles and 90 % of lids came from Asia, but most bottles were manufactured in China, Malaysia-Singapore and the UAE, and were dumped from ships. By comparison, most loose lids were in poor condition after being carried across the Indian Ocean from Indonesia by the South Equatorial Current. Reducing PET drink bottles at sea requires enforcement of regulations banning dumping at sea, whereas reducing their lids requires better control of littering in source countries., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The flushing of wet wipes down toilets leads to blockages of sewerage systems. This, together with unregulated sewage discharge, often results in increasing numbers of wet wipes washing up onto beaches. However, it is unclear how long wet wipes can persist on the beach and whether they pose a prolonged public health risk if contaminated by E. coli. In this mesocosm study, three types of wet wipes (plastic containing, and home and commercially compostable) colonised with E. coli were buried in beach sand and their degradation, tensile strength, and concentration of E. coli was quantified over 15 weeks. Wet wipes containing plastic remained largely intact for 15 weeks, whilst both compostable wet wipes fragmented and degraded. Importantly, E. coli persisted on all three wet wipe types, representing localised reservoirs of E. coli in the sand, which could present a human health risk at the beach., 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 © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

In Africa, Morocco is the 10th largest producer of plastic. The severity of this plastic has attracted increasing amounts of attention in the Moroccan Atlantic and Mediterranean in recent years. However, at the national level, there is limited knowledge of plastic pollution. To obtain an exhaustive and comprehensive evaluation of plastic pollution levels in Morocco, large-scale monitoring is needed on all the coasts of the country. In this context, this paper examined the composition, abundance, distribution, source and quality of beaches on two Moroccan coasts using four beach quality indices along 29 beaches. During two seasons, a total of 72,105 items were counted. The mean litter abundance was 0.31 items/m 2, and the Mediterranean beaches were more dense than the Atlantic beaches. In particular, litter density was greater in spring (0.35 items/m 2 ) than in summer (0.29 items/m 2 ). The data indicate considerable differences in the density of marine debris according to the seasonality, beach typology and presence of rivers. Hazardous litter items were collected along both Moroccan coasts, constituting 8.41 % of the total collected items, with a mean of 0.026 items/m 2 . The use of environmental indices allowed us to classify Moroccan beaches as "moderate cleanliness", "moderate abundance" of plastics, "moderately safe" presence of hazardous litter and "mediocre" environmental status. The findings of the present study indicate that the sources of litter on both Moroccan coasts come mainly from recreational activities and dumping. The waste management practices recommended for Moroccan beaches include reducing sources, mitigating mitigation measures and changing littering behavior., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Coastal wetlands represent areas that can testify historical accumulation of litter. We analyzed the anthropogenic litter deposited on the channel bottom of a coastal wetland area that experienced water stress due to extreme summer dryness after about 20 years. We hypothesize that the litter accumulated in the different areas over the years reflects the different social user categories (i.e., fishermen, beach users, hunters) and exposure to meteo-marine events. Our findings highlight that historically accumulated litter is composed of plastics (78.8 %), clothes (8.9 %), and glass (4.9 %). Moreover, litter concentration averages 53.6 items/ha in the 8 sectors. The most found categories were common household items (25.4 %), diverse (professional and consumer) items (24.2 %), and food and beverages packaging (21.4 %). Finally, litter diversity indices and the Detrended Correspondence Analysis showed sector and litter type similarities. We reported for the first time the presence of litter accumulated for 20 years testifying non-more occurring recreational activities., 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 © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The Canary Archipelago is a group of volcanic islands located in the North Atlantic Ocean with high marine biodiversity. This archipelago intercepts the Canary Current, the easternmost branch of the Azores Current in the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre, which brings large amounts of litter from remote sources via oceanic transportation. It is, therefore, particularly vulnerable to marine plastic pollution. Here, we present a review of the available studies on mesoplastics and microplastics in the Canary Islands over the last decade to evaluate the level and distribution of plastic pollution in this archipelago. Specifically, we focused on data from beaches and surface waters to assess the pollution level among the different islands as well as between windward and leeward zones, and the main characteristics (size, type, colour, and polymer) of the plastics found in the Canary Islands. The concentrations of meso- and MPs on beaches ranged from 1.5 to 2972 items/m 2 with a mean of 381 ± 721 items/m 2 . The concentration of MPs (>200 μm) in surface waters was highly variable with mean values of 998 × 10 3  ± 3364 × 10 3 items/km 2 and 10 ± 31 items/m 3 . Plastic pollution in windward beaches was one order of magnitude significantly higher than in leeward beaches. The accumulation of MPs in surface waters was higher in the leeward zones of the high-elevation islands, corresponding to the Special Areas of Conservation (ZECs) and where the presence of marine litter windrows (MLW) has been reported. Microplastic fragments of polyethylene of the colour category "white/clear/uncoloured" were the most common type of plastic reported in both beaches and surface waters. More studies on the occurrence of MLW in ZEC S and plastic pollution in the water column and sediments, including small-size fractions (<200 μm), are needed to better assess the level of plastic pollution and its fate in the Canary Islands. Overall, this review confirms that the Canary Archipelago is a hotspot of oceanic plastic pollution, with concentrations of MPs in surface waters in the highest range reported for oceanic islands and one of the highest recorded mean concentrations of beached meso- and microplastics in the world., 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 © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Masses of plastic and other anthropogenic debris on beaches of inner Seychelles and derived from 53 organised clean-ups have been analysed. Debris and plastic densities ranged from 0.0011 to 0.1622 kg m -2 and 0.0004 to 0.1179 kg m -2 , respectively, and data from successive cleans of the same beach resulted in respective median accumulation rates of 0.0293 and 0.0137 g m -2  d -1 . There was no dependence of density or accumulation on beach location/aspect or season, but there were significant inverse relationships with beach area. This effect was attributed to most debris and plastic being trapped on the backshore by rocks and vegetation, and the areal proportion of backshore increasing with decreasing beach size. Plastic is derived from local littering and more distal sources, with polyethylene terephthalate bottles, flip-flops and Styrofoam fragments making important contributions. Without intervention and an increased risk of coastal flooding with climate change, beached debris on Seychelles is predicted to increase., 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 © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Plastic debris accumulating on beaches pose a major threat to marine ecosystems. Unexpected events affecting human operations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted governments to implement safety measures and restrictions, can serve as an unplanned investigation of anthropogenic pressure on the marine environment. This study aimed to explore deviations in macroplastic delivery rates to the central eastern Red Sea shoreline during three distinct population mobility periods: before, during, and after COVID-19 restrictions, spanning from January 2019 to June 2022. We observed a 50 % reduction in the estimated macroplastic delivery rates during the lockdown, followed by a 25 % increase after restrictions were eased. Seasonal variations in delivery rates were also observed, with higher values during the winter monsoon. Reduced shoreline litter delivery during the pandemic highlights human operations as a cause of macroplastic litter and suggests the potential of temporary measures to reduce plastic pollution in the coastal environment., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We investigated whether higher quantities of faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) are in the areas with red algae-dominated wrack compared to areas without it and if the birds are the primary source of faecal pollution on sandy beaches of the Baltic Sea. Water, sand and wrack samples were collected during the recreational season, and abundances of FIB, HF183 (human faecal pollution) and GFD (bird faecal pollution) markers, as well as the presence of Salmonella and Campylobacter, were assessed. Significantly higher levels of Enterococcus spp. were found in the wrack accumulation areas in water and sand than in the areas without wrack when there was a faecal pollution event, which could be explained by entrapment and changed physico-chemical water conditions. Both faecal pollution markers were identified, however, with no apparent pattern. Campylobacter bacteria were identified in the wrack-affected water, sand, and beach wrack. While this research provides valuable insights into beach wrack serving as a reservoir for FIB, further investigations, including multi-day samplings, are necessary to gain a deeper understanding of the long-term dynamics of microbiota within red algae-dominated wrack., 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 © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Short-term fecal pollution events are a major challenge for managing microbial safety at recreational waters. Long turn-over times of current laboratory methods for analyzing fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) delay water quality assessments. Data-driven models have been shown to be valuable approaches to enable fast water quality assessments. However, a major barrier towards the wider use of such models is the prevalent data scarcity at existing bathing waters, which questions the representativeness and thus usefulness of such datasets for model training. The present study explores the ability of five data-driven modelling approaches to predict short-term fecal pollution episodes at recreational bathing locations under data scarce situations and imbalanced datasets. The study explicitly focuses on the potential benefits of adopting an innovative modeling and risk-based assessment approach, based on state/cluster-based Bayesian updating of FIB distributions in relation to different hydrological states. The models are benchmarked against commonly applied supervised learning approaches, particularly linear regression, and random forests, as well as to a zero-model which closely resembles the current way of classifying bathing water quality in the European Union. For model-based clustering we apply a non-parametric Bayesian approach based on a Dirichlet Process Mixture Model. The study tests and demonstrates the proposed approaches at three river bathing locations in Germany, known to be influenced by short-term pollution events. At each river two modelling experiments ("longest dry period", "sequential model training") are performed to explore how the different modelling approaches react and adapt to scarce and uninformative training data, i.e., datasets that do not include event pollution information in terms of elevated FIB concentrations. We demonstrate that it is especially the proposed Bayesian approaches that are able to raise correct warnings in such situations (> 90 % true positive rate). The zero-model and random forest are shown to be unable to predict contamination episodes if pollution episodes are not present in the training data. Our research shows that the investigated Bayesian approaches reduce the risk of missed pollution events, thereby improving bathing water safety management. Additionally, the approaches provide a transparent solution for setting minimum data quality requirements under various conditions. The proposed approaches open the way for developing data-driven models for bathing water quality prediction against the reality that data scarcity is common problem at existing and prospective bathing waters., 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 © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

This study evaluated the distribution and abundance of marine litter on 30 beaches around Okinawa Island, Japan. Beach quality indices and multivariate statistical analyses were used to assess the quality of the beaches and their pollution patterns. A total of 11,626 items weighing 513.49 kg with an average density of 0.13 ± 0.10 items/m 2 were collected. Litter was dominated by plastics (81.72 %), broken glass (8.38 %), and cigarette butts (7.44 %), and 74.05 % of total litter was from land-based sources. Single-use plastics (SUPs) were present in all surveyed beaches and made up 30.54 % of the total litter. The clean coast index (CCI), plastic abundance index (PAI), and hazardous index (HI) were between 0.1 and 7.6, 0.1-4.0 and 0.01-1.42, respectively, indicating low to moderate levels of pollution of Okinawan beaches. This study should aid in the formation of strategies to deal with marine litter in Okinawa, other areas of Japan and the Asia-Pacific region., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The study presents the results of the survey of beached litter on the two opposite shores of the Fields Peninsula (King George Island) conducted during the austral summer seasons of 2022 and 2023, as part of the 67th and 68th Russian Antarctic expeditions. Beaches situated on the coast of the Drake Passage were much more polluted compared to the beaches on the Maxwell Bay side. Plastic accounted for 86 % of all found items on the shores of the Drake Passage, with the majority of items related to fisheries or shipping. On the Maxwell Bay beaches, only 36 % of litter was plastic, with other categories like wood and metal dominating the total number. The average density of marine litter is 0.32 items/m (0.017 items/m 2 ), comparable to other similar surveys conducted on Antarctic islands; however, this is at least 15-20 times lower than beach litter densities in the Arctic., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Drawing on responses from 238 beachgoers who have visited a Georgia (U.S. state) beach in the past three years, this study asks respondents about their knowledge of beach water quality monitoring, awareness of beach health advisories, perception of water quality, and expected responses upon learning of a beach's water pollution advisory. Binomial logistic regression finds that the only demographic predictor of respondents who would completely stop visiting a beach with an advisory is whether the respondent is a visitor or resident (year-round or part-time). Nearly 40% of visitors would not come to a beach with an advisory compared to 13.4% of residents. Most respondents report they would continue to visit a beach but would stay out of the water and stop harvesting seafood from the beach's waters. More than a third (36.1%), however, are unaware Georgia regularly monitors beach water for water quality, and 41.2% have never read a beach sign warning of contaminated water or seafood. Alarmingly, just over half view aesthetic factors such as no litter, no odor, and clear water as criteria for defining whether beach water is safe., Competing Interests: The authors declare there is no conflict., (© 2024 The Authors This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC BY 4.0), which permits copying, adaptation and redistribution, provided the original work is properly cited (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Poor waste management and unsustainable institutional and individual behaviors, have led to the accumulation of plastic litter in many habitats worldwide. Assessment of plastic pollution in Kenyan marine environment was conducted focusing on the impact of banning the single-use plastic carrier bags in Kenya. The quantification, composition, and distribution of plastics were determined at nine (9) beaches along Kenyan coastline using standing stock method. A total of 750 plastic items were collected and categorized with only 47 pieces being single-use plastic carrier bags. A great number of plastics (n = 383), were identified by their original use, with packaging plastics being the most common (n = 155). Macroplastics were the overall dominant plastics at 76%, mesoplastics, 21% and microplastics, 3%, which were altogether dominated by low-density polyethylene (LDPE) at (46%), followed by polypropylene (PP), 30%; polyethylene tetraphthalate (PET), 9%; polyvinyl chloride (PVC), 8%; and polystyrene (PS), 7%. The absence of identifiable single-use plastic carrier bags in 6 out of 9 beaches signified the effectiveness of the ban in Kenya. Monitoring of trends and sources of plastic debris is encouraged to help enhance the science-policy linkage aimed at reducing marine plastic pollution., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Santa Luzia, an uninhabited island in the archipelago of Cabo Verde, serves as a natural laboratory and important nesting site for loggerhead turtles Carettacaretta. The island constitutes an Integral Natural Reserve and a Marine Protected Area. We assessed marine litter accumulation on sandy beaches of the island and analysed their spatial patterns using two sampling methods: at a fine scale, sand samples from 1 × 1 m squares were collected, identifying debris larger than 1 mm; at a coarse scale, drone surveys were conducted to identify visible marine debris (>25 mm) in aerial images. We sampled six points on three beaches of the island: Achados (three points), Francisca (two points) and Palmo Tostão (one point). Then, we modelled the abundance of marine debris using topographical variables as explanatory factors, derived from digital surface models (DSM). Our findings reveal that the island is a significant repository for marine litter (>84% composed of plastics), with up to 917 plastic items per m 2 in the sand samples and a maximum of 38 macro-debris items per m 2 in the drone surveys. Plastic fragments dominate, followed by plastic pellets (at the fine-scale approach) and fishing materials (at the coarse-scale approach). We observed that north-facing, higher-elevation beaches accumulate more large marine litter, while slope and elevation affect their spatial distribution within the beach. Achados Beach faces severe marine debris pollution challenges, and the upcoming climate changes could exacerbate this problem., 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 © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)