Marine debris on beaches of Arraial do Cabo, RJ, Brazil: An important coastal tourist destination

Highlights: • The most common marine debris in all beaches was plastic: 61,4% in winter and 54,5% in summer. • The straws represent 28% of plastics collected on beaches. • Cigarette butts were the second most common type of marine debris, 26,7% in winter and 22% in summer. • Pontal and Grande beaches presented higher amount of debris in units and abundance per m² in the summer period. • The largest amount of marine debris was found in dry sand. - Abstract: Arraial do Cabo, RJ, Brazil, is known as the diving capital due to its clear waters and great biodiversity, a consequence of the upwelling phenomenon. This feature attracts tourists tripling their population during holidays, causing increase in the amount of debris on beaches and waters endangering marine biodiversity. To evaluate the amount of solid waste found on beaches in two different holiday period, eight people in each beach collected macrodebris (≥2 cm) in a transect covering an 20 m wide area, during 20 min, in winter/2015 and summer/2017. The materials were weighed, quantified and characterized. In the summer, when the number of tourists is greater, a larger total amount of waste in units were found. Plastic and cigarette butts were the most abundant. The results show that the city does not have adequate planning to receive a large amount of tourists, being vulnerable to socioeconomic and environmental damages.