Marine litter on the coasts of Eilat (Israel) in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea

The Gulf of Aqaba -Eilat, the home of the northernmost coral reefs in the world, is threatened by anthropogenic pressure such as tourism and manmade pollutions, including the recently growing problem of marine litter. In a study conducted between November 2020 and February 2023, marine litter was monitored at each of the local authorities along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, to understand its composition and sources. The density of litter in Eilat was 6.37 +/- 1.5 items per 100m 2 which is lower than in other studies in the Red Sea. More than half of the marine litter found in Eilat were Cigarette butts, which indicates that Eilat's beaches are not cleaned thoroughly. With prevailing northern winds in the Gulf of Aqaba, ML is more likely to arrive from land to the sea, and 'transboundary ML ' washed ashore will be blown back to the sea.