Puffins at risk from pollution
PUFFINS and basking sharks are at risk from toxic plastic pollution off the British coast.
A study has found that even the remote Outer Hebrides are being choked with plastic, putting important seabird colonies at risk.
Scientists who collected water samples from 27 locations off the Scottish coast found two-thirds contained microplastics. These tiny plastics, known already to be swallowed by birds and whales, contained toxic flame retardants, pesticides and heavy metals.
Tisha Brown, of Greenpeace, which carried out the study, said: ‘The key finding here is that microplastics are present in some of Scotland’s most remote and unspoilt waters.’