A standardized method to monitor marine litter in submarine canyons: implementation in Atlantic and Mediterranean reef ecosystems

Marine litter has been quantified in several deep-sea environments, including complex habitats such as submarine canyons that host Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems. However, a standardized method for its characterization and quantification is still lacking. Here, we propose a simple and replicable method based on repeated 100 m transects conducted using Remotely Operated Vehicle video surveys. The method was tested at two sites off the French coasts, in the Western Mediterranean Sea in 2023 and the [...]