---

This richly illustrated book serves as the ideal guide to the items that litter the world´s beaches. Forget sea shells and other fauna and flora. Here, you will find what a beachcomber is actually most likely to encounter these days: glass, plastic, wood, metal, paper, oil, and other sources of marine pollution!

Complete with nearly 700 photographs, this guide shows the full range of marine debris items, each presented with insight and a pinch of humor. In addition, the author provides full details about these items. You will learn everything worth knowing about them. This includes not just their sources and decomposition stages. Discover the threat each item poses to these beautiful environments as well as prevention strategies, clean-up recommendations, alternative products, and recycling and upcycling ideas.

Beyond the aesthetic issue, marine debris poses a threat to wildlife, human health, and economic welfare. This book arms you with the knowledge you need to combat these disgraceful and often hazardous eyesores. Become a beach detective! Travel the world´s most beloved tourist destinations with this ultimate beach read and help restore these fascinating environments to their natural beauty.

---

Foreword Preface Introduction Guide format The marine debris problem The beach environment What can you and I do? Glass bottles glass pieces light bulbs / fluorescent light tubes Metal cans bottle caps/pull tabs canisters drums household items / appliances vehicles and tires Plastic pellets beverage containers bottles cups, straws caps, lids tetrapacks 6-pack holders canisters toys balloons bags and packaging shotgun shells Foamed plastic (styrofoam) cups / plates / food containers beanbags buoys packing material Personal hygiene bathroom items tampons / tampon applicators diapers condoms Medical wastes syringes medications hospital wastes Furniture & furnishings beach furniture toilets & Co. appliances & home electronics Apparel footwear flip-flops / shoes clothing gloves hats Water sports snorkelling equipment flotation devices surfboards Fishing gear hook, line and sinker glow sticks nets buoys fishing crates Wood Pallets crates boats lumber/planks household Paper cups packaging newspapers / magazines fireworks Organic debris fruits & vegetables snacks dung cadavers Oil and Tar crude oil tar balls oil spills Smoking cigarette butts cigarette packages cigars lighters
Acknowledgements References Further Reading Contacts Index

---

Michael Stachowitsch received his B.Sc. degree at the Univ. of Pittsburgh and his Ph.D. at the Univ. of Vienna. He has successfully managed to maintain a career as a marine biologist in a landlocked country, conducting research in the Adriatic and Red Seas and teaching numerous university courses. He is the long-term Austrian coordinator of a Mediterranean sea turtle conservation project in Turkey and represents Austria at the International Whaling Commission. Michael´s many activities as a scientist, author, translator and editor have taken him to beaches around the globe: the fauna and flora differ from shore to shore, the beach litter is astoundingly uniform - and abundant. Decades on hands and knees with a camera yielded this book and revealed unsettling truths about human attitudes and behavior.

---