Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 23, 2025

Data Collection on Marine Litter Ingestion in Sea Turtles and Thresholds for Good Environmental Status
Published on: May 18, 2019
Abundance, composition and sources of beach litter on the Cape Verdean island São Vicente
1Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
Abstract:
This study represents the first assessment of beach litter on an island of the west African archipelagic state of Cape Verde. On five beaches of São Vicente, litter was collected along transects and classified according to the OSPAR protocol, with the Matrix Scoring Technique used to allocate it to four sources. Beach litter on São Vicente is highly variable in both amount and composition, while land- and sea-based sources contribute to litter loads to different extents depending on the use and geographic orientation of the beach. Four of the five surveyed beaches exhibited litter loads that were similar to pollution levels previously described for other oceanic islands, while a north-eastern-facing beach featured exceptionally high loads. This was presumably because it receives litter from distant sources due to its exposure to a major ocean surface current.
Related Concept Videos
Gravimetry: Inorganic And Organic Precipitating Agents
Habitat Fragmentation
Convenience Sampling Method
Convenience sampling is a non-random method of sample selection; this method selects individuals that are easily accessible and may result in biased data. For example, a marketing...
Gravimetry: Overview
In precipitation gravimetry, the analyte is converted into a precipitate and weighed. For example, the silver content in a sample can be estimated by precipitating and...
Porosity and Absorption of Aggregate
When all pores in an aggregate are filled with water, the aggregate is considered saturated and surface-dry. If left in dry air, water will evaporate until the...
Cluster Sampling Method
To choose a cluster sample, divide the population into clusters (groups) and then randomly select some of the clusters. All the members from these clusters are in the cluster sample. For example, if you randomly sample four departments from your...

