Friday, 11 September 2020

Waste Plastic on Western Scottish Beaches

In 2002 my wife an I went to New Zealand, we walked all over those lovely islands, and really enjoyed the wilderness beaches in particular. 

We cant afford to fly our family to New Zealand, but we can drive the Scotland, which is quite a good proxy. 

The Western Isles regions is quite wild, and despite presence of fishing farms and land based farms, does feel quite wilderness. 

Out family hikes along the cost were somewhat blemished by the presence of plastic waste on beaches. 

From the look of it, a great deal of the waste comes from the fishing industry, with only a small percentage coming from domestic sources, and even that may come from boats!

Not pictured, were some very large sections of black plastic tubing with welded joints, perhaps used to form a floating ring at the top of salmon nets. 


Our walk took us South of Loch Beag, to Loch Fyne and then Eastward back to our pad. Please find below photos, and captions:


Lid from a pallet crate.


Tank of some sort, punctured as bracken growing through it. 


Small item plastic milk bottle. 


Tide Line - Ropes and Assorted Small Plastic Items 


Functional Buoy. 


Plastic Crates, Nylon Rope


25 Litre container.


Plastic Crates




Panorama Showing Various Detritus 


Many Small Items Mixed with Soil 

So all this junk, got me thinking about what sort of shape beaches in New Zealand must be in? Not this bad I hope. . . .

Ocean Plastic Gifts

Scientific Web Content

Flood Risk Assessment London