A preliminary attempt at characterising beached material through aerial footage in the Maltese islands (central Mediterranean)

Abstract

The study aims to elaborate a protocol based on the monitoring of Coastal Litter accumulation in the Maltese Islands while using a drone. Three locations are selected from the North East Marine Protected Area (NEMPA) situated in Malta: Qawra Point, the western side and the eastern side of Bahar ic-Caghaq. These areas are considered hotspots to check whether hydrodynamical conditions such as the wind parameters (wind speed, the average wind speed and the wind direction), measured with the anemometer, and the wave exposure index, calculated using the Thomas exposure index equation, are influencing the accumulation of litter along the coastlines. In addition, tourism or local activities are taken in consideration in order to check if they are determining this increase in marine and coastal pollution. Data is collected using a drone: this is an innovative way to acquire data through aerial footage. In fact, the drone has a capacity of approximately 30 minutes each battery, therefore each survey records items in large and not easily accessible area and in a short period of time. This thesis defines a new protocol which could be included in the achievement of a "Good Environment Status" of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive by 2020. In particular, the descriptor 10 of this Directive is based on Marine Litter, therefore the protocol could be used to implement the research on this nowadays important and urgent topic that must be recovered. In the next chapters, the defining of the protocol is explained and described (in the material and methods chapter), while results illustrate the recording of coastal litter and the statistical analyses done show which factor is influencing the accumulation of litter in the areas of study. Limitations of the protocol and further approaches are included in the study in order to be tackled in future projects based on aerial monitoring programme.