Scandal of sea creatures using litter for homes in stunning lochs
SHOCKING photos show sea creatures making homes out of litter – including a lobster living in a traffic cone and sea anemones growing on a can of Irn Bru.
Chemistry teacher Ross McLaren, 31, started documenting the sad sights while diving around sea lochs in Scotland.
Ross began diving in September 2016 and was stunned by starfish, anemones, lobsters, and bog tail squid. He reckons Scotland is one of the best places in the world for diving.
But on one occasion he spotted a magnificent jellyfish – only to realise it was a “bag for life”. And he says littering has skyrocketed since lockdown.
Dad-of-one Ross, from Kilwinning, Ayrshire, said: “Some of the stuff I’ve seen under the water is decades old – a Nintendo controller, and cans of Tennent’s.
“It’s good to show people what is happening. Sea creatures are making their homes in litter. People won’t care if they can’t see it.
“One day in Greenock I saw what I thought was a huge jellyfish but it was actually a bag for life.
“You can understand why a whale or a porpoise thinks a plastic bag is a jellyfish.”
He found the lobster in a traffic cone earlier this month as he was diving near Fairlie Quay, on the west coast.
Ross added: “I was quite surprised to see it – visibility is sometimes not the best.”
Ross usually takes the litter home but on this occasion he said: “I thought it best to leave it as it looked like the lobster had set up its home in there.”
Other unusual homes Ross has spotted include a bottle and a wheel rim. Another time he saw a glove attached to a bottle.
He added: “I think it has got worse since lockdown. There’s a general increase in the amount of litter in water. People don’t realise what an impact it is having.
“I’m not a marine biologist or an ecowarrior. It’s easy to stop litter.”