Recently I recorded a short piece for BBC’s One Show on beach litter. The main part of the feature was provided, quite properly, by Marine Conservation Society who are keen to promote their excellent work on this issue. I was there to talk specifically about birds.
A short walk along the strand line at Widemouth Bay in Cornwall, the chosen location for the film, revealed the problem. In amongst the seaweed we found all manner of litter. Brightly coloured twine, short and long, plastic ties, bottle tops, and, on closer inspection, the expected littering of tiny plastic balls, or knurls as they are known – the raw material for plastic products the world over.
Alongside this, one of the rangers from North Devon countryside service had brought an extra bag of “goodies” found previously on the beach. These included including additional plastic items, such as a collection of lighters and a ball of vicious looking fishing wire complete with barbed hooks.
All these could pose direct problems for birds, but the worst were probably the twine and wire. I imagine if you look at any strandline in the UK, you’d find small pieces of thin rope amongst the seaweed. Just imagine how much of this stuff is out at sea.
The problem this causes is entanglement. Birds can be caught while fishing and, in researching this story I was sent some awful images from Orkney, taken this summer, that show four dead gannets bound together having been caught up in what looks like old netting. And we regularly get reports of seabirds washed up on beaches caught up in barbed fishing wire, no doubt discarded accidentally or deliberately on fishing trips. Here the birds not only suffer from entanglement, but from getting caught on the hooks and held down by the line’s weights. It’s sobering to imagine the distress and pain this must cause.
Birds are also at risk in the nest. Gannets, for instance, use seaweed to as part of their cliffside constructions and will not distinguish between this and rope. On Grassholm I was told that 90% of the 39,000 nests have plastic in them. And every year the wardens have to spend time disentangling young birds that have been caught in particularly long pieces of twine.
But what can be done?
The Marine Conservation Society suggest there are three spheres of activity in which a difference can be made. Firstly there’s a need for government to act in a co-ordinated way on beach litter. Currently there’s no one single body responsible for the issue, which means that there’s little co-ordination of effort, or even exchange of best practice.
Secondly, MCS suggest that the various marine industry’s look at reducing the amount of waste that enters our oceans. A good start here would be to consider procedures – can waste be prevented by carefully looking at changes to the way things are done.
Thirdly, what can the public do? Here, we could look at encouraging people to simply either not create the litter in the first place, or tidy up after themselves. This applies to all beach users, from sunbathers to leisure fishing. And its not just when you’re on the beach that you should consider litter. There’s an awful lot of plastic flushed down the loo every year that often finds its way on to beaches.
Alongside not creating litter, the public can also get directly involved in looking after beaches, especially of course in coastal communities. Everyone can take part in organised beach cleans. And there are also schemes where locals can adopt beaches. As ever in life, every little bit helps.
18 and 19 September this year is the MCS Beachwatch Big Weekend. Have a look at the website here for more details.