Making sense of beach litter

Working towards clean seas and beaches

Beachwatch Big Weekend

Summary Report Results

Phot

o: A

lan

Jone

s

Beachwatch - www.mcsuk.orgBeachwatch - www.mcsuk.org

16th to 19th September 2011When?

Why?

Who?

Where?

How far?

How much?

Big bags?

MCS coordinates the Beachwatch Big Weekend - it’s the only national beach litter clean up and

survey of its kind in the UK

4,375 volunteers helped clean a beach during the Beachwatch Big Weekend

Across the UK, 335 beaches were cleaned including a doubling of the number of surveys carried out in Northern Ireland

142 km of UK beaches were cleaned by our volunteers

247,914 individual bits of litter were collected, with an

average of 1,741 pieces every km

Lots of them - a whopping 2,177 bin bags were filled with rubbish in just four days!

The Big Weekend 2011 facts: Where does all this litter come from?

39.9%Items dropped or left by the public on the coast or inland and carried by winds and rivers

Items too small or damaged to identify or it’s not obvious where they have come from

38.3%

Includes commercial and recreational items - e.g. fishing line, nets, rope, weights and buoys

11.4%

Items flushed down the toilet such as cotton bud sticks, tampons and panty liners

5.4%Items dropped or lost from ships

3.6%

Illegal disposal of waste including furnishings, pottery and ceramics

1.2%

Includes anything medical such as inhalers, plasters, syringes

0.2%

Sewage-related debris (SRD)

HAZARD

HAZARD HAZARD

Cleaning beaches is vital and is part of our work to find a solution to this blight on British and Northern Irish beaches. The data collected during the Beachwatch Big Weekend is a crucial evidence base to help actively stop litter from reaching beaches in the first place. We can use the information in our campaigns and in the lobbying we do, locally, nationally and internationally to take action on marine litter both at home and abroad.

For every piece of litter we pick up there are millions on other beaches and in the ocean - waiting to do their deadly damage.

When an animal gets caught in litter - it’s almost impossible to escape. Death can come slowly by starvation, drowning or suffocation.

Imagine a whale not being able to come up for air, tethered to the sea bed by fishing net, a seal being unable to feed as its mouth is sealed tight with string, rope or line, a turtle feeling fuller and fuller but unable to feed as a plastic bag fills its belly.

HAZARDHAZARD

HAZARD HAZARD

A bag dropped 20 years ago may not break down in the sea in our lifetime. It may not break

down for centuries, it may exist in some

form forever.

Beachwatch - www.mcsuk.org Beachwatch - www.mcsuk.org

Dropped in an instant......but the effects last a lifetime and beyond

Photo: Rogerio Ferreira

A plague of plastics - the facts

Beachwatch - www.mcsuk.org

We’re a plastic society – we love it! It’s durable, it’s lightweight and all of that makes it a menace in our oceans.

The trouble is the more we use, the more we throw away and all of that can end up floating around in our oceans and being washed up on our beaches.

We found more plastics on beaches during the Big Weekend 2011 than any other material, by a staggering 60%.

Since 1998 plastic pieces have been the number one item found at every Beachwatch Big Weekend survey.

Plastic can take thousands of years to breakdown and it’s estimated that some will never leave the marine environment – they will get smaller and smaller until they are microscopic and will continue to do damage.

Think before you drop

Beachwatch - www.mcsuk.org

Litter on a beach is unsightly, unpleasant and dangerous to human visitors too. We don’t want our kids decorating their sandcastles with flags made from cotton bud sticks and used condoms, or filling their buckets with bits of glass, plastic and polystyrene among the pebbles. Dirty beaches can have a direct impact on tourism and in these difficult economic times it’s yet another reason why we need to educate people about the problems of litter on the shore.

Nephrops, known variously as Dublin Bay prawns, langoustine or scampi, are being impacted by plastic pollution in our seas. Small plastic bits are eaten by nephrops in large quantities. A University of London study in the Clyde showed that 83% of the nephrops studied had plastic in their stomachs and that most of this plastic came from the fishing nets being used to fish them - a double whammy to the species. These plastics have been shown to accumulate in the animal and may impact its feeding habits by taking up room in their stomachs and limiting how much they can eat.

Dublin Bay Prawns

A humpback whale was trapped and released from fishing lines twice within 24 hours just three miles north west of St Abb’s Head in Scotland in November 2011.

Photo: Rogerio Ferreira

Photo: Ailish Murphy

Your gyres guide

Beachwatch - www.mcsuk.org Beachwatch - www.mcsuk.org

In 2011 MCS joined forces with the RSPB to see first hand why the island of Grassholm, off the Pembrokeshire coast, is both a breeding haven for gannets and often a death trap too.

Beyond the healthy noise and bustle of this gannet breeding ground is a shocking secret – much of the island is covered in plastic. So much so that gannets are now nesting in plastic line, net and strapping bands and there’s so much of the stuff it would ruin the fabric of the nest sites to move it.

Close up our team saw chicks that had died where they were born, adults entangled by their own nests and some carcasses showing signs of having swallowed litter.

A graphic reminder of why the work our volunteers do and the data they collect during Beachwatch Big Weekend is vital.

Plastic threat for gannets gripped by Grassholm

The huge amounts of litter that collect in

the gyres. Microscopic and larger pieces of

litter extending through the gyre system

for hundreds if not thousands of miles and

down into the water column.

The majority of this rubbish is now

plastic based - a material that has been in

common usage for less than a hundred

years, is a shameful testament to our

throwaway societies.

Areas affected are vast and moving and the

cost involved would be prohibitive. Areas

that accumulate litter can also accumulate

wildlife - simply straining the ‘soup’ could

have serious environmental consequences,

for plankton in particular.Yes! The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre,

probably the largest, is estimated to be

between 7-9 million square miles.

Gyres?

Where?

Large rotating systems of surface ocean

currents, resulting in a ‘litter soup’.

Five major ones - the North and South

Pacific Subtropical Gyres, the North

and South Atlantic Subtropical Gyres

and the Indian Ocean Subtropical Gyre.

They spin clockwise in the Northern

Hemisphere and anti clockwise in the

Southern Hemisphere.

Big?

Fact

What?

Clean up

All photos: Richard H

arrington/MC

S

1994

1996

1999

2001

20032005

2007

20092011

1997

1998

1995

2002

20042006

2010

2000

500 items/km1000 items/km2000 items/km2500 items/km

1 1 Plastic pieces54043 379.8

2 4 Plastic caps/lids15448 108.5

3 6 Polystyrene pieces14847 104.3

4 5 Crisp/sweet/lolly wrappers14407 101.2

5 3 String and cord < 1cm11409 80.2

6 9 Plastic drink bottles11223 78.9

7 10 Glass pieces11007 77.3

8 7 Cotton bud sticks8122 57.1

9 8 Fishing net and net pieces < 50cm7474 52.5

10 Plastic cutlery/trays/straws/cups5989 42.1

OBJECT

RA

NK

2010

PO

SITI

ON

S NUMBERCOLLECTED ITEMS/KM

Top 10

Good news & bad news

This year has seen some new entries, movers and non-movers in the Top 10 of beach litter finds made by our Beachwatch Big Weekend Volunteers.

As always, plastic pieces lead the way but following our plea to the public to stop using their loo as a bin, cotton bud sticks have dropped a place, whilst we found more glass pieces on beaches this year, more bottle tops and lids for the first time since 1997, plastic cutlery and food trays have broken back into the Top 10.

Beach litter levels, like the tides themselves, ebb and flow, but the general trend since we began Beachwatch 18 years ago is rising. That’s the bad news. The good news is that our 2011 survey shows a slight reduction in beach litter compared to our 2010 data.

MCS is always looking for new ways to help fight against beach and marine litter. By working in partnership with other NGO’s, industry and retailers we hope that this year’s small reduction in rubbish can continue in 2012 and be the start of a downward trend.

In 2011, MCS embarked on a three year partnership with High Street giant, Marks and Spencer. This relationship has allowed us to launch a brand new beach cleaning initiative which will see hundreds of M&S staff and customers cleaning beaches in May 2012, establishing a new annual event. This will mean we will have even more data to help us find solutions to the problems of beach litter.

Beachwatch - www.mcsuk.orgBeachwatch - www.mcsuk.org

Beachwatch - www.mcsuk.org

Trash or treasure

If it wasn’t so serious it would be laughable - the things our volunteers found on the beaches over the Big Weekend. Stuff either left there by people or washed up on the tide.

A huge thanks to SeaFrance Dover-Calais Ferries for not only funding the Beachwatch project but for also get-ting involved in surveys at Kingsdown Beach in Kent.

Big Weekend Reflections Hundreds of beaches cleaned. Thousands of volunteers in action

Solway Coast AONB Volunteer Group - North WestWe collected the usual plastic bottles, ice cream cartons, drink cans, pieces of rope, sweet wrappers, industrial packaging, fish boxes, balloons, party poppers, car wheels and empty oil drums filling more than fifty bags. A fine morning’s work from a great group of amazing volunteers.

Lorraine and Alan Brookes - WalesWe cleaned up in record time which is a great sign of how much has been improved over the year as the public become more aware of the hazards of litter to wildlife and the local environment.

Diane Pearson - North EastIt was amazing to see the range of litter from a large piece of boat to a dead baby seal.

Kathryn Logan - ScotlandI was delighted to note this year that there was a reduction in the plastic items on our beach, as well as less cotton bud sticks and shotgun cartridge inners.

• An almost life size fake donkey

• A portable toilet

• I rocket parachute flare in live

condition

• 1970’s Smartie tube lids

• Push bike

• Plastic skeleton

• Two glasses and half a bottle

of Champagne

• German metal Fencepost

• Roadside Bollard

• A KP peanut packet dating

from the 1970’s to 1980’s.

Beachwatch - www.mcsuk.org

Beachwatch - www.mcsuk.org

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262 volunteers 6,746 items collected

Beachwatch - www.mcsuk.org

Go to www.mcsuk.org to find out more.

Our marine environment and wildlife need you!Join an MCS beach clean

Join MCS from as little as £2.75 a month and help

us take action to stop litter destroying the UK’s beaches.

Join us at: www.mcsuk.org/membership.

Become a member

Spread the word about MCS and encourage your friends to

do something to make a difference.Tell a friend

Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/mcsuk

Follow us on twitter: twitter.com/mcsukJoin our online community

Take part in the M&S Big Beach Clean-Up

11th-13th May 2012

There are three ways to join in:

www.mcsuk.org/foreverfish

www.plana.marksandspencer.com/foreverfish

Look out for Sea Champions instore

Scotland589 volunteers 21,888 items collected

N.Ireland457 volunteers 23,045 items collected

2605 volunteers 160,799 items collected

England

Wales462 volunteers 35,436 items collected

Big Weekend

...the full story

We love seeing dogs enjoying the sand and surf on dog-friendly beaches. In 2011 there was an 11% increase in the number of dog poo in poop scoop bags found on our beaches. The plastic bag may take decades to break down and the contents will become fossilised faeces. It’s great that people are poop scooping - but please take your bags off the beach and bin them appropriately.

In the last ten years plastic bottles on our beaches have increased by 33% because as a nation we use more bottles. Let’s work together and help people change their behaviour - re-use bottles where possible, always recycle and never leave your bottles behind.

After we highlighted the issue of bathroom waste on beaches last year, we’re delighted that sewage related debris has decreased by 33% from 2010. This is a fantastic achievement and just goes to show that Beachwatch really does raise awareness.

Beaches Surveyed

Key

Registered Charity No (England and Wales): 1004005Registered Charity No (Scotland): SC037480

Company Limited by Guarantee Number: 2550966

Tel: 01989 566017Email: beachwatch@mcsuk.org

Address: Overross House, Ross Park, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 7US

www.mcsuk.org

Register now to take part

128-

2012