We have just successfully cleaned the beach at Teilesnish. It was a great turnout and we managed to remove several tons of rubbish, mainly plastics and rope. On average there is 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in every square mile of ocean! This beach had accumulated a vast amount of rubbish over the last few winters and a lot of the plastic has started to break up and blow inland and back out to sea.Not only does plastic look untidy, it takes many years to break down (a normal plastic bottle may persist for more than 450 years if left on a beach).
When plastic breaks down fish & wildlife mortality rates increase. “It is thought that marine litter causes a reduction in fish populations through higher mortality rates from wounds caused by litter, starvation due to blockages in the digestive tract, and impaired reproductive capacity due to toxins such as parabens. Micro-plastics in particular concentrate organic pollutants such as PCBs, enabling them to enter the food web and bio-accumulate”(Thompson et al, 2004; Browne etc al, 2008).
So a MASSIVE thank you for all the volunteers that turned out to help!
We will be organising more beach cleans in the Autumn, if you fancy taking part contact the ranger on 01859 502222 or ranger@north-harris.org.