Assessing Ocean Literacy in Coastal Tourist Regions: A Comparative Analysis of Knowledge, Perception, and Behavior among Tourists and Residents on the French Mediterranean and German Baltic Sea Coasts

The ocean is critical for climate regulation, biodiversity, and sustaining habitable ecosystems, yet human activities, such as unsustainable consumption and production patterns, increasingly threaten marine environments. Ocean Literacy (OL) seeks to mitigate this issue by enhancing understanding of the human-ocean relationship, promoting informed communication, responsible decision-making, and sustainable behaviors supportive of marine preservation. However, prior research indicates that public understanding of marine issues is limited and often affected by misconceptions. In this study, a comparative analysis of OL among residents and tourists in Mediterranean (N = 405) and Baltic Sea regions (N = 628) is conducted to identify possible regional differences. Using face-to-face surveys, regional ocean-related knowledge, threat perception and general ocean-related behavior are assessed before investigating the influence of ocean-related knowledge on ocean-friendly behavior. The results indicate no significant regional differences in the overall assessment of knowledge or behavior. However, within the knowledge and behavior categories, there is a divergence between higher confidence in general knowledge and lower confidence in specific knowledge, as well as higher scores in low-cost and lower scores in high-cost behaviors. Threat perceptions exhibit regional nuances, particularly in the Baltic Sea regions, where local contexts shape these perceptions. On both the Mediterranean Sea coast and the Baltic Sea coast, a positive correlation was found between ocean-related knowledge and ocean-friendly behavior. The findings reveal valuable insights, showing no major differences in general knowledge, threat perception, or behavior between the two coastal regions. However, understanding regional nuances and variations in ocean knowledge, specific (mis)conceptions, and behaviors may still be essential for developing targeted policy strategies that align with local contexts and values to enhance Ocean Literacy.