This study estimated the concentration of marine plastics in waters around Australia using surface Neuston and Manta net tows. Data was collected during seven transit voyages aboard Australian vessels. The study undertook three consecutive 15-minute net tows at 57 locations. The 839 marine plastics recorded during the study were predominantly small fragments (i.e. ‘‘microplastics’’, median length = 2.8 mm, mean length = 4.9 mm) resulting from the breakdown of larger objects made of polyethylene and polypropylene (e.g. packaging and fishing items).

This study was carried out to estimate the floating microplastics (i.e. plastics measuring less than 5mm, reported in unit of pieces/m^3) concentration in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Microplastics data was collected from 2017-08-28 to 2017-09-24 using a manta net. This dataset contains the results from all 18 sampling stations, in a spreadsheet format.

This study estimated the concentration of microplastics (i.e. plastics measuring less than 5mm, reported in unit of pieces/kg d.w.) on beaches along the western Gulf of Thailand during 2019-09-22. Microplastic data were collected using a metal spoon. This dataset contains the results from all 25 beach samples, in a spreadsheet format.

This study estimated the concentration of microplastics (i.e. plastics measuring less than 5mm; reported in unit of items/kg d.w) in beach sediments along the Thoothukudi coast, Gulf of Mannar region, India, during 2021-01-03 to 2021-06-08. Microplastics in the sediments were collected using a shovel. This dataset contains the results from all 36 sediment samples, in a spreadsheet format.

This study estimated the concentration of microplastics (i.e. plastics measuring less than 5mm, reported in unit of pieces/m3) in the surface sediments of Xialiao Beach, New Taipei City, Taiwan from 2017-07-06 to 2017-07-25. Microplastic data were collected using a metal scoop. This dataset contains the results from all 80 surface sediment samples, in a spreadsheet format.

This study estimated the load of surface microplastics (i.e. plastics less than 5mm, reported in unit of pieces/m^3) in the surface waters from the Northwest Pacific, the Bering Sea, and the Chukchi Sea from 2017-07-28 to 2017-10-01. Microplastics data were collected using manta net aboard R/V Xuelong. This dataset contains the results from all 13 surface net tows, in a spreadsheet format. Tows were conducted for 20 min at an average cruising speed of 3 knots.

This study was carried out to estimate the surface microplastics (plastics from size 0.5mm to 5mm, reported in unit of pieces/m^3) concentration in the North Pacific Ocean. Microplastics data was collected from 2018-11-01 to 2018-12-04 aboard MV Maersk Transporter, using a manta net. This dataset contains the results from all 16 sampling efforts, in a spreadsheet format.

This study estimated the concentration of microplastics (i.e. plastics measuring less than 5mm, reported in unit of pieces/m3) on sandy beaches along the northern coast of Taiwan from 2015-06-04 to 2015-09-14. Microplastic data were collected using a metal scoop. This dataset contains the results from all 8 sediment samples, in a spreadsheet format.

This study was carried out to estimate the microplastics (i.e. plastics measuring less than 5mm, reported in unit of pieces/m^3) concentration in the Bay of Bengal and South Pacific Ocean. Microplastics data was collected from 2013-05-27 to 2015-11-04. The Bay of Bengal expedition was aboard SV Mir while the South Pacific Ocean expedition was aboard RV Cabo de Hornos. During the two expeditions, the study investigated whether the microplastics sampling instruments, the new, high-speed AVANI trawl (All-purpose Velocity Accelerated Net Instrument) collected similar amounts and types of microplastics as two established scientific trawl designs, the manta trawl and the neuston net. The AVANI trawl can collect microplastics from the sea surface at relatively higher speeds up to 8 knots and during long transits (allowing for a nearly continuous sampling effort over long distances), whereas the manta and neuston trawls must be towed slowly in a less turbulent sea state and often represent shorter tow lengths. This dataset contains the results from all 36 sampling stations in the Bay of Bengal and 52 sampling stations in the South Pacific Ocean, in a spreadsheet format.

This study estimated the floating microplastics concentrations load in the coastal surface waters of the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea. This dataset contains all 124 manta net trawl microplastics samples collected over 7 months by citizen scientists, in a spreadsheet format.