Ipswich-based iDive recently conducted a shoreline litter pick on the Suffolk coast, coordinated by their new Marine Champion, Glenn King.
Eight iDive members took to the beach at Shingle Street, near Felixstowe to litter pick its vegetated shingle ridges on a breezy Sunday morning, just a few days after Storm Claudia blew through.
L-R: iDive club members Karl Wilkinson with daughter Ellie, Endy Brumfitt, Steve Barnes, Oscar Withers, Alan Beaumont, Pip Snowden, and Marine Champion Glenn King
Speaking after their clean up, Glenn reported that the litter collected from the beach was ‘almost exclusively plastic’. he said:
Most of the items we recovered were fragments of broken plastic, caps and lids, disposable cup fragments, disposal plastic cutlery, pieces of plastic rope and string ends, occasional small pieces of plastic sheeting, and a few bottles.
The iDive team also noted some interesting finds along the strandline, including numerous cuttle bones from Sepia Officinalis (Common cuttlefish) and occasional egg cases, presumed from Amblyraja radiata (Starry skate).
Paying credit to East Suffolk Council #litterheroes for the loan of litter pickers and hoops and for collecting the rubbish retrieved, Glenn said it was an illuminating day:
While we all picked up numerous small fragments, we did not find the volume of waste we all expected a few days after Storm Claudia passed through. Maybe that's a good sign?
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