An ocean of waste laps our shores

A BEAUTIFUL day, a morning run. Miles of glistening sand stretching ahead. But also, a line of plastic following the ebb of the tide on the beach. A gannet, neck and wings entwined in a net. Starved to death. A sheep, half rotten, did it fall off a cliff ? And a dolphin. Dead. Most likely with a stomach full of plastic bags and bottles. A problem, a huge one. Marine Litter.

If you’ve ever been out to The Maharees, in Castlegregory, you’ll know how stunning the beaches are there. Miles of sand stretch from north to south, surrounded by Tralee and Brandon Bays. They form part of the famous Dingle Way walk and the whole area is an outdoor enthusiast’s playground. It’s renowned for surfing and windsurfing, diving, fishing and horseriding yet if you are lucky, even in summer, you can find a beach deserted on a glorious day.

But like every beach, Maharees is facing this growing problem. Marine Litter. Every tide washes in a multitude of items, mostly plastic, and deposits them on the shores. From bottles to gloves, to old shoes, to bags, to fishing rope, anything can be washed in, and even more so after big storms like Ophelia and Brian which carry rubbish from even further across the ocean.

Maharees Heritage and Conservation Association, along with Maharees Coast Care, organise regular cleanups to try and remove some of this litter. Volunteers can sometimes collect up to 40 bags in a few hours. During the most recent cleanup, in conjunction with Clean Coasts Big Beach Clean, the group did a survey of exactly what washed up.

Over just a 1km stretch of beach, 19 bags were filled. The daunting task of analysing took five volunteers two hours. Here are some of their findings: 120 bottle caps, 87 plastic bottles, 80 plastic bags, 27 shotgun cartridges, 13 tampon applicators, 7 gloves, 6 cans, 6 toothbrushes and 7 bags of fishing net/rope.

The statistics on plastic in our oceans are mind-boggling. Eight million tonnes are dumped into the ocean each year, 60% of all marine debris is plastic. A plastic bottle takes 450 years to decompose. Five major ocean gyres now exist, seas of plastic, hundreds of kilometres wide, swirling in ocean currents. 100,000 marine animals and turtles are killed each year by plastic. And microplastics, thinner than a human hair, formed by bigger pieces of plastic breaking down, amongst other things, are being ingested by fish and marine life and finding their way into the human food chain.

While it’s easy to blame ocean currents, foreign fisherman, and illegal dumping for the growing amount of plastic washing up on our shores, the fight against marine litter needs to begin with each of us at home. We need to start using less plastic and we need to educate our children.

What can we do? What is in the recycle bin? How can it change?

From single-use plastic bottles, to coffee cup lids, to straws, to food packaging – small changes in our practices and habits can make a huge difference to our plastic consumption.

Maharees Heritage and Conservation Association, are working hard to ensure the future of Maharees. They have a number of coastal erosion projects underway, with chestnut fencing, marram grass planting and reduced access to the sand dunes. The beach cleanups are organised fairly regularly, and they would love help from anyone with a little bit of spare time. You can keep up to date with their activities on their facebook page and website www.mahareesconservation.com

And don’t forget to get out and enjoy our beautiful beaches!

The volunteers who collected 19 bags of rubbish from a 1km stretch of beach at the Maharees and (inset) shotgun cartridges and fishermen’s gloves were among the haul of plastics.