Skye: where the world’s plastic waste washes up

MARINE conservationist Katie Tunn – who was a participant in Channel 4 reality TV series Eden – said she has collected plastics from all over the world from the shores of Skye, where she now lives.

Tunn organises regular beach clean-ups on the island to remove “huge amounts of marine debris” which washes up every week.

She collects discarded plastic bottles, tampon applicators, shotgun shells, cotton bud sticks, plastic toys, balloons and their ribbons, fishing gear and food wrappers with Spanish, Japanese, Norwegian, Chinese and French writing.

She said: “The plastic problem varies wildly from shore to shore as it’s the currents that determine what washes up and what carries on past. The east coast of Skye is relatively clean, there are very few shores with major plastic problems. However, because of the currents that funnel up through the Minch, the west side of Skye is particularly badly hit. Score Bay in Duntulm in the north of Skye is one of the areas where I organise beach cleans and we remove huge amounts of marine debris. It’s often disconcerting to drive past the next week, especially if there’s been winter storms, to see the tell-tale specks amidst the seaweed which show stuff has washed up again.” Tunn said she gives pep talks to volunteers who become “disheartened” by insatiable tide of debris. “I say to volunteers here that it’s not about how clean the beach looks, it’s how much rubbish has been taken out of the ocean and out of the way of wildlife,” she added. “Every piece of plastic strapping removed is one less danger to seabirds, seals and other marine mammals.”