Guernsey beach cleans and marine litter

Marine debris and particularly floating plastic is a major hazard for wildlife. Seabirds, turtles and marine mammals may ingest plastic, which may cause their death. Discarded plastic erodes to microscopic particles, which can enter the human food chain. Some plastic softeners may mimic endocrine hormones which impact reproduction.

Marine debris washes up on the Guernsey shore regularly. Much of it is from ships including fishing boats. Storms bring up broken crab and lobster pots. Beach cleaners often find an odd shoe, cigarette lighters, plastic polymer fishing rope, twine, and line, pieces of polystyrene and insulation foam, plastic bags and plastic bottles, and thousands of pieces of hard plastic including disposable plastic cutlery, plastic bottle tops and plastic toys.

3645 / 3996

Beach litter from La Grande Porte Baie at Pleinmont, south-west Guernsey, collected on the 1st September 2018

La Grande Porte Baie, the cobble beach on the south-west tip of Guernsey, accumulates polystyrene pieces.

Tens of thousands of pieces of polystyrene have been removed from this small bay this year. It will be interesting to observe how much more polystyrene is brought to shore by winter storms.

Golf balls are another item that is regularly found in this bay. So far in 2018 I have collected 37 golf balls here. More golf balls have been collected by other sea shore litter pickers.

File No. 010918 1773
File size: 13 MB Jpeg
©RLLord
sealordphoto@gmail.com
marinelitterguernsey@gmail.com

1 September 2018 Pleinmont Beach Clean litter Polystyrene pieces foam for longline hooks golf balls marine plastic litter plastic bottle recreational fisherman's float La Grande Porte Baie beach litter ocean trash ocean rubbish ocean debris ocean plastic debris Font Vella brand Spanish plastic water bottle

Sealord photography's biodiversity images began with a focus on international commercial seafood species and the marine life of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, Great Britain.

Sealord photography has a growing collection of digital images covering climate change, the environment and sustainability issues.

Sealord photography also covers the Guernsey community and particularly the fund raising activities of Guernsey charities as part of the island's social sustainability.

The fish, shellfish and marine life images would not be possible if it were not for the generosity of commercial and recreational fishermen in Guernsey, and seafood suppliers at various trade shows in the USA, and wholesalers at Fulton Fish Market in New York City.

Many marine biologists have helped identify or confirm the identity of marine species photographed. These people have been mentioned when possible.

Please email: sealord@me.com or sustainableguernsey@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments about Sealord photography. Thank you. Richard Lord

Thank you for visiting Sealord photography on Smugmug.

Sealord photography focuses on three themes:

Biodiversity with an emphasis on marine life

Sustainability relating to construction & urban development; energy; food; transport; and waste.

The Guernsey community

Guernsey beach cleans and marine litter