Introduction:

The North-Eastern Aegean sea is characterized by the presence of a unique marine biodiversity, including cetaceans, turtles and monk seals, which occupy the top of the trophic chain and play an important role as bioindicators. To date, very few studies have been carried out for microplastic analyses in marine megafauna. However, previous research on the digestive tract of different marine species confirms the bioavailability of marine plastic debris.