The streaming of plastic in the Mediterranean Sea
While areas of plastic accumulation have been identified in several of the world’s oceans, none have been identified in the Mediterranean Sea, despite it being considered one of the most polluted seas in the world. The concentration of plastic is certainly higher in the western basin, but the debris does not remain there. Tara scientists have therefore adopted a new approach: that of plastic flow. This has revealed a key figure for potential future mitigation strategies: 20% of the plastic debris dumped each year passes through approximately 1% of the Mediterranean basin’s surface area. This is referred to as a transit hub. On a regional scale, these results could help identify strategic locations for monitoring plastic pollution at sea, and even for collection strategies. Knowledge of these plastic flows will also provide insight into the exposure of certain ecosystems to plastic pollution, particularly for assessing the level of exposure of our MPAs. Some may be low exposed at a given moment, but in reality be much more exposed cumulatively.