http://plastictides.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/before-the-irish-weather-got-good-it-got-really-bad-and-it-brought-some-plastic-tides/
BEFORE THE IRISH WEATHER GOT GOOD, IT GOT REALLY BAD AND IT BROUGHT SOME
PLASTIC TIDES…
Posted on March 12, 2014 by plastictides
A couple of weeks ago, we were called to assess some stranded animals in
Wexford, here in Ireland. As we are looking at the ingestion of plastics
by sea birds, we take advantage of stranding events to obtain our
samples most of the time.
As mentioned here previously, stranding events are common for sea birds,
which can be weakened through bad weather, land on beaches and die from
starvation. However, as weather gets rough, the tides not only bring
weakened animals, but also a huge amount of debris. The pictures you’re
about to see emphasize that the marine debris problem is never a local
one. Normally, you could go to a beach in Ireland and not find so much
trash, but the sea isn’t static and debris travels all over through
currents, and such a thing as a pristine beach does not seem to exist
anymore. We have impacted the seas greatly and there is no stopping the
come and go of the currents. For example, Ireland has banned single-use
plastic bags since 2002 and I am absolutely sure we can find some
plastic bags on these beaches. Why? Because the sea is not limited to me
and you doing our part. Marine debris has become a huge global problem.
It involves EVERYONE doing their part, whether on land or at sea,
civilians or industries.
We still haven’t started the necropsies on the stranded sea birds, but
looking at these beaches, I am, unfortunately 100% sure that we are
going to find marine debris in the stomachs of these birds. Aside from
sea birds, we also found a dolphin, a turtle and two seals washed
ashore. The amount of debris is not only disgusting, but overall, sad.