Where was we?
Spurn point is a 327-hectare nature reserve owned by
the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, packed full of diverse ecology consisting of
grassland, salt marshes, mudflats and coastline as well its nostalgic natural history.
The site is located South of Kilnsea at Spurn head (TA 419 149)
at the very Southerly end of the Yorkshire Nature Triangle, bringing its
benefits of acting as a bottleneck for rare and native migratory birds reaching
records of 400 different species in May 2019.
What were we conserving?
Spurn point receives relentless quantities of marine
litter due to the longshore drift along the East coast and Humber estuary
creating its iconic 4-mile narrow tidal coastline. As part of a Waste of Waves
initiative rangers complete daily litter picks on sections of the beach every
day due to being heavily protected for wading birds and marine mammals. We got
stuck in by scouring the coastline collecting a variety of litter from plastic
bottles to discarded fishing line and nets into bags, that were later processed
and categorised into litter type as future data for the Marine Conservation
Society to highlight trends around the UK.
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| Litter picking along the coast of Spurn |
Why is this conservation important?
Marine plastic has been documented to have been in
the environment the past 50 years, reaching records of 300 million metric
tonnes in 2013 with no sight of the problem reducing in the years to come. Originating as land based, working its way down water
courses to marine habitats where plastic makes up 70% of all debris. Marine
plastic fundamentally alters marine ecological functions and community structure
of fisheries and charismatic mammals such as turtles and whales through
ingestion and entanglement, meanwhile
impacting human health via ingestion as well as human well-being recreational
activities such as diving, also being a large contributor to climate change. Plastic
has travelled up the food chain via microplastics, reaching parts of the world
which otherwise would be inaccessible highlighting how vast this problem is on
a regional to international scale.
To tackle the wave of plastic, conservation actions have had to tackle
all boundaries for sustainability such as education to the public, emphasizing on recycling and single use plastics and discarding litter responsibly. Conservation groups such as
the Marine Conservation Society and Living Seas have tackled reducing fishing
litter from local fishermen with the introduction of designated areas for waste drop off, along
with education to the general public and school children through public talks
and media. UK Government have implemented legislation through the Convention of
Marine Pollution by Dumping Wastes and Other Material 1972 enforcement to
control marine pollution and Zero avoidable waste by 2050 involving a deposit-
return scheme for plastic bottles, while almost all major retailers have combat
food packaging standards by pledging to the UK Plastic Pact in April 2018 with
the introduction of carrier bag charges which have meant 40% fewer plastic bags
being found on beaches and 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging
through altering single use plastic.
How to get involved?
You don’t have to have any past experience or
expertise to join a beach clean; its open to anyone! All you would need to do
is wrap up warm and bring the whole family, everything else is provided.
Joining a beach clean is simple; look on The Wildlife Trust or Marine
Conservation Society website, searching for ‘Beach cleans’ where all the
information of location, date and times listed of upcoming gatherings will take
place. Practically contributing to enhancing the environment by removing litter
will make you feel accomplished.
More information
- Beaumont, N., Aanesen, M., Austen, M., Börger, T., Clark, J., Cole, M., Hooper, T., Lindeque, P., Pascoe, C. and Wyles, K. (2019). Global ecological, social and economic impacts of marine plastic. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 142, pp.189-195.
- Chen, C. (2012). Regulation and Management of Marine Litter. Marine Anthropogenic Litter, pp.395-428.
- Derraik, J. (2002). The pollution of the marine environment by plastic debris: a review. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 44(9), pp.842-852.
- Dixon-Hardy, D. and Curran, B. (2009). Types of packaging waste from secondary sources (supermarkets) – The situation in the UK. Waste Management, 29(3), pp.1198-1207.
- Law, K. (2017). Plastics in the Marine Environment. Annual Review of Marine Science, 9(1), pp.205-229
- Löhr, A., Savelli, H., Beunen, R., Kalz, M., Ragas, A. and Van Belleghem, F. (2017). Solutions for global marine litter pollution. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 28, pp.90-99.
- Sheavly, S. and Register, K. (2007). Marine Debris & Plastics: Environmental Concerns, Sources, Impacts and Solutions. Journal of Polymers and the Environment, 15(4), pp.301-305.
- Youtube.com. (2018). YouTube. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA9O9YUbQew [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019].
- Marine Conservation Society
- Spurn Point Nature Reserve
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