Throughout 2019 the Colourful Coast partnership have run beach cleans at Whitehaven and St Bees. With the help of nearly 400 volunteers, over 100 bags of litter have been removed from the Copeland coastline this year and the partnership want to say a big thank you to all those people who have helped.
Colourful Coast Project Officer Sophie Badrick said: “It’s great that so many people want to do something to tackle the marine litter crisis. There’s such an interest in the marine environment and coastal pollution that we have no shortage of volunteers whatever the weather. We’ve had lots of interesting finds this year. Plastic Smartie lids are a regular find and they often look like new, but in fact Smarties began to use cardboard caps in 2005 so when we find a plastic lid it illustrates how long plastic might be in the oceans for before it washes up and can be removed.”
Alongside the fun finds there are also some saddening finds too. Dead sea birds have been seen on some occasions. None of them have been tangled in litter, so it’s more likely that have died in rough seas or bad weather. In November there was also a sad sight when a harbour porpoise washed up St Bees beach. However, it did give a rare opportunity to get close to one of the marine mammals we know are out there, using our coastline but normally only catch glimpses of.
Sophie said: “Alongside the time that people give us by coming along to help out, our beach cleans wouldn’t be as successful without the help of Carvetii Coffee in Threlkeld who donate hessian coffee sacks so we have less plastic going to landfill. A huge thanks must also go to the waste team from Copeland Borough Council who collect all the non-recyclable litter that we find.”
The Partnership will be holding their last beach clean of the year on Thursday 19th December at Whitehaven North Shore and everyone is welcome to come down and join in, there will be mince pies and chocolates to help celebrate a successful year of beach cleansing. All the details can be found on the Colourful Coast website.