Baseline Assessment of Marine Litter and Microplastic Ingestion by Cold-Water Coral Reef Benthos at the East Mingulay Marine Protected Area (Sea of the Hebrides, Western Scotland)

The extent ofmarine litter andmicroplastic occurrence across ocean biomes and species
remains poorly characterised, particularly in remote deep-water ecosystems. The present
study in the East Mingulay Special Area of Conservation (a Marine Protected Area in the
Sea of the Hebrides, western Scotland) used historic surveys and benthic samples to
obtain baseline levels of anthropogenic debris and microparticle ingestion. Most debris
identified in the MPA was fisheries-related. A total of 11% of benthic macrofauna from
Mingulay Reef Area 1 and Banana Reef had ingested microplastics, with no statistically
significant effect of feeding guild, station, or reef, on ingestion rates. However, the
ingestion rate was highest at a station located in a topographic hollow along a gentle
sloping area with strong variable ocean currents where fine-scale interactions between
bathymetry and hydrography may have helped trap and focus microparticles. Raman
spectroscopy of microparticles revealed several types of polymers being ingested,
tentatively identified as polypropylene (PP), polyurethane (PU), polystyrene (PS), and
polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Besides establishing a baseline assessment of marine
litter and microparticles in a deep-water setting, the approach demonstrates the utility
of using historic data and specimens collected for other purposes to expand the
geographic and ecosystem coverage for larger more regional-scale and even basin-wide
assessments such as those needed to inform Good Environmental Status in European
waters, as called for by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.