Abstract
The issue of anthropogenic marine debris has grown for decades on a global scale. Since the increase of plastic production since the 1950s, marine debris has been exacerbated as an abundance of disposed plastic has been recorded in waterways and oceans. While other materials also exist as marine debris, plastic has consistently been the prevailing material found. All marine debris, however, has the potential to negatively impact coastal ecosystems, human health, and tourism. Plastic debris typically enters the ocean as whole pieces before slowly degrading over time, with smaller pieces posing different risks than larger ones. Highly populated coastal cities such as Miami, Florida are particularly prone to marine debris. Monitoring marine debris helps to both quantify the amount and types of marine debris affecting coastal habitats and may be used to develop targeted outreach programs as one method to reduce sources of debris entering waterways. The goal of this project aimed to analyze the amounts, types, and lengths of macrodebris found over a 12-week period at two 500-meter beach sites in Miami, more specifically, Virginia Key and Key Biscayne. Findings include plastic as the most common material identified at both beaches, but a greater proportion of plastic found at the Virginia Key site with and being ~25% longer in length on average than at Key Biscayne. These results illustrate plastic being a dominant type of marine debris found on beaches. Results also show that beaches in close proximity can still have different macrodebris compositions which means that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to reduce marine debris at the source. However, preventative measures through maintaining a consistent volunteer base could drastically reduce macrodebris accumulation at different coastal habitats and mitigate the time that debris has to break down and impact an ecosystem. Involving local communities in frequent beach cleanups can support longterm preservation goals and promote coastal resiliency.