Environmentalists ‘horrified’ by seal pup trapped in rubbish
Distressing footage of a young seal pup on a beach covered in rubbish has shocked and disturbed environmentalists and residents of Shetland.
Therevdavidlees,whocame tothearchipelagoasamethodist minister in 2017, shared the video to highlight the growing problem of rubbish washing up on Shetland’s beaches. He is involved with monitoring the numberofsealsduringthepupping season.
Posting the video on Facebook, the Reverend said: “Videotakendiscreetlyonfullzoom. No seals were disturbed.
"This poor thing is only a few days old, but has to contend with all this bruck. (I'll not share the location here but will dowiththosewhoneedtoknow when I submit my count).
"As with most pupping locations, for good reason it's not easily accessible, but that means it's not ever cleaned up.”
The video comes as the problem of plastic pollution has beenagrowingconcerninshetland,withthecommunityregularlyturningouttohelpremove the waste.
Earlier this year, a Clean up Challenge collected 1,225kg of marine waste from the coastline.
Mr Lees told The Shetland Times: “It is particularly difficult to see bruck being washed ashore, knowing that these challengingconditionsareonly made worse by human action.
“I’ve seen seals share beaches with some washed-up plastics before, but this week seeing a seal that was barely a week old crawlingamongstaloadofrubbish was particularly difficult.
“The seals have used the particular beach for generations because of the safety it affords, as there is no route down for sheeporhumans,butthatsafety is increasingly threatened by what is washing ashore.”
Other residents took to the comment section on the Facebook video, sharing their own experiencesofrubbishonshetlands’ beaches.
One resident said they found a kitchen sink on a well-known beach, adding that it was “rusty sharp and obviously just flung into the sea by someone.”
Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary shared the video, saying: “We were horrified to see this.
“Thank goodness the mother is there.
“This beach clearly needs a goodredd up.”
The annual Da Voar Redd Up is a mission to tidy up litter across Shetland, including coastal areas, which returned in Spring this year.