Visit Fylde Coast had been out making videos at Rossall Beach on a lovely sunny Friday 22 January 2021. All at once we were stopped in our tracks by the white drift lines. Oh no, the plastic fragments washed up on the beach are back…
The first drift lines we saw were big enough to be noticeable, but still reasonably small. Carry on walking, back to the same bit of beach where they were seen in October 2020, and it’s a different story…
The drift lines here are completely unmissable. Thick, white drifts of plastic fragments, with a rainbow of brightly coloured bits mixed in for good measure.
Bend down to take a closer look and it’s really quite a thick drift line, sat on top of the shingle –
Collecting the Evidence
The first thing we did was collect a sample and get a rough idea of the size of the incident. This time the plastic is thick enough to be scooped up with barely any sand or shingle. In fact the fresh sample looks like it’s been separated from the sand.
Then we paced out the size of this worst affected area – roughly 70m x 8m and the deposit is about 1cm deep.
Back in the office the photos are posted on our Coast Watchers timeline, to record when and where it was seen.
Next job is to report this second incident to Wyre Council.
Next Steps
Wyre Council collected the sample. They have logged it as a pollution incident and contacted everyone in every organisation they can think of, to try and identify the source of it.
The pieces are tiny but bright. If you spot any please report it to LoveMyBeach. Please also take a photo and upload it to our Coast Watchers timeline. This is just the kind of incident we’re trying to capture.
A Week Later…
We’re back on the beach on Friday 29 January 2021 and the fragments have dispersed. Now doing their damage, one fleck at a time. A couple of Rossall Beach Lone Cleaners are out picking litter and the first thing they say is how concerning it is. The whole strandline is flecked with the tiny pieces of plastic – and there’s no way they could be removed.
Taking a walk back to the ‘hotspot’ the very thick drifts have subsided. But, curiously, there are still white lines of debris in the same place. The shape and make-up of this bit of beach must be trapping the particles.
More photos, and more uploading to Coast Watchers. And a new video about incident number 2. We’ll keep you posted if we hear anything about where they’ve come from, or why.
Here’s our video about this second incident –
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First Report of Plastic Fragments Washed Up On the Beach
Autumn 2020 was the first time the Fylde Coast experienced this unusual occurance. Millions of tiny plastic fragments washed up on the beach – all along our coastline.
It was first spotted on Friday 29 October 2020 by Jean and Alan, two of the Rossall Beach Group. They alerted us and we went out to take a look.
Strangely, the worst of the plastic fragments washed up on the beach appeared to be between two groynes at Rossall Beach, Cleveleys.
Take a look at this video which explains more –
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Recording and Reporting
Along with the video we also took plenty of photos, and collected some samples.
The first thing we did was upload the photo to the new Coast Watchers timeline. We’re collecting and recording photos to document the life of our beaches and seafront. This is just the kind of information which we want to know about.
The second thing we did was to report it to the Coast and Countryside team at Wyre Council. They in turn have reported it on to the Environment agency.
Even More Plastic Fragments Washed Up on the Beach
Sadly, the problem doesn’t end there.
Over the weekend the Rossall Beach Group received other plastic sighting reports from beach goers at Cleveleys and Bispham.
On Wednesday 4 November we were making a video at Blackpool beach. Many thousands of the same fragments were floating about on the high tide around Central Pier. Snagged by the flotsam they were floating in big patches.
Later the same day, a member of the Big Blackpool Beach Clean group also reported the same thing. They’d seen millions of the tiny fragments at Blackpool South Shore, opposite the Viking Hotel.
Have you seen it?
Have you seen the plastic fragments on your local beach? Please take a photo and upload it to the Coast Watchers section. We want to track where it goes and how long it hangs about.
Sampling the Fragments
Jean, the Rossall Beach Buddy who first spotted the plastic, had picked up a tiny plastic rake, to put in the toy box on the promenade. So we used the toy to scoop some of the surface sand and debris into a bag.
Our sample was probably from an area of about the size of an A5 sheet of paper – not very big at all.
After the sample dried out the plastic particles mixed with the grains of sand and practically disappeared. They certainly aren’t very visible in the dry sample.
Adding water to part of it separated the fragments, allowing them to float to the top and reveal the true scale of the problem. See how much plastic has come out of such a small sand sample.
And the Verdict?
Our samples went to the Environment Agency but unfortunately they weren’t able to identify where they might have come from.
Our colleague Emily, at LoveMyBeach spoke to a contact in Cornwall about the microplastics. They do wash up down there far more frequently, however he said unfortunately they rarely discover the source of them. Sometimes it’s a suspected container spillage, but it’s quite often just an accumulation that have been at sea for a while and wash in on different currents.
Quite often the smallest microplastics fall to the seabed. However, as these are so bright they both agreed that they’re unlikely to have been down there for a while and recently churned up.
Why is it a Problem?
Well plastic never really goes away when we’ve finished with it…
When we dispose of plastic it just breaks down into smaller and smaller particles. It doesn’t decompose back into its component elements like a rotten apple would.
You’ve probably heard of microplastics – the microscopic fragments of plastic which are tiny enough for microorganisms to eat. These tiny plankton in the sea are at the very bottom of the food chain – ready to be eaten by different fish which of course we catch to eat too.
That’s how plastics get into our food chain. Apart from all of the damage it does elsewhere.
These tiny plastic fragments washed up on the beach are well on their way to becoming microplastics. The rough mechanical action of the sea will speed them along, making them into a meal for some unsuspecting creature. At this size they are impossible to remove from the water.
This is why we litter pick and beach clean. This is why you should always avoid litter from getting into the sea in the first place. Did we mention, please don’t release balloons and sky lanterns?
While you’re here…
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