Evaluation of the status of marine plastic pollution along a tourist beach of Bay of Bengal during lockdown and post lockdown

Marine plastic pollution is a global issue that has calamitous consequences for global economy, biodiversity, human health, and the climate. A few of the studies were carried out on the Gopalpur coast and the current baseline survey was conducted during Covid-19 pandemic lockdown (April-August 2021) and post lockdown (August-September 2021).The survey was covered about 1500 m along the coast, divided into 10 equal zones of each (20 × 150 m²) to collect the plastic debris based on colour, density, and weight. Plastic debris was categorized into 33 types with an average 1.276 g/m² during lockdown and was categorized into 34 types with an average 3.34 g/m² in post lockdown. The results imply that tourism has a greater impact on the beach in terms of pollution when compared with the local sources, which will have a drastic effect on the aesthetics of the beach, neighbouring turtle nesting site and indirectly on human health.