The picture above was taken at a point along the Humber Estuary foreshore at the seaward side of the clay bank flood defence. It was an attempt to show how littered the high tide point is, many more plastic bottles and other items were visible than were captured in this photo. The recent spring tides have carried floating items nearer to the base of the clay bank than might otherwise e the case, plus the force of the tide has managed to carry the items through the reed-bed to a point where they can be clearly seen. The Estuary is of course officially part of the coast, the issue of litter thrown-up along the coast being currently a great cause of concern – this because it shows how much litter humans have put in the sea. It also shows how non-biodegradable these containers etc. are, the ones in the picture may have been in/on the water for years.
Occasional litter picks will have only a temporary impact on the problem, albeit a valuable thing to do at the time. A cardinal issue is ‘how do all these plastic/glass containers and other items get into the water in the first place given that it must be rare for people to take their rubbish to the water’s edge and tip it in or that, one hopes, recycling agencies to not dump the products they collect in the seas, rivers and estuaries.
One answer is that if non-biodegradable then the bottle seen today may be the same bottle seen next year, or ten years on. Another might be the issue of rubbish disposal on board ships. Obviously crews need supplies much of which will be stored in containers so what is the policy of captains, crews and shipping companies to rubbish disposal from on board ship? Do ports have facilities whereby the ship’s refuse can be disposed of when in port?
(To be continued)