Working for cleaner rivers and seas

Strandliners: Cleaner Rivers, Cleaner Seas

Everyone at Strandliners sends best wishes and good health to all at these strange and uncertain times. They are in the process of creating some new methods of sharing news, activities and support for all, including those who may not be able to access the outdoors as usual. Andy Dinsdale writes.

Social media is playing a greater role in connections and for the first time we suggest that to be more connected with the coastal, river and marine environment, it may be beneficial to join Facebook. We know that there are issues with social media, but at this time it can be a useful way to communicate. You can join and keep your own settings totally private but still have access to the Strandliner Facebook groups. (If all this is new to you, please do contact Strandliners for further details.)

As all outdoor events for the foreseeable future have been cancelled, Strandliners is planning to bring the Community Action Team training online. We will have more news next month.

A second newsletter will go out mid-month which will include activities, quizzes, guest articles and more. Anyone out there who would like to share their beach stories, their finds, pollution issues, outings (if you’ve been able to do so) or has something they’d like to have identified, please do email. As always we’d love to hear from you.

Points Of Light Award

The Points of Light Award given by the Prime Minister, highlights an enormous array of innovative and inspirational volunteering across the length and breadth of Britain.

Andy Dinsdale accepts this award on behalf of all the volunteers who have participated in clean ups, joined in with recording and surveys, signed up to become subscribers of this newsletter, travelled the journey with him and especially the pioneers of the Community Action Team training.

The last event before lockdown: nurdle hunts at Cuckmere and Camber 

What an incredible nurdle-hunting weekend! We could not believe the amount of microplastics on the strandline at both Camber and the Cuckmere.

We collected up as many nurdles and biobeads as we could from each 1 square metre survey area. Those we couldn’t pick up in the time available -because there were just so many of them – were simply scooped up and brought back with us. At Camber we picked up a staggering 10 kg in 10 minutes from the area you can see in the picture.

Our theory was that by putting the collected nurdles, biobeads in water, the sand/mud would sink and the microplastics float. Unfortunately, the vegetation and general rubbish floats as well. So began the slow but methodical process of separation.

Microplastics on Camber Sands beach

It takes good light, and more than a little patience, to pick them out from the vegetation, seeds, shells, and secondary microplastics. The final count from the Cuckmere was over 5,000 nurdles and 5,000 biobeads from just 1 square metre – yet another site returned zero! The movement of the tides and currents moves the flotsam and jetsam around constantly.

However, our patience was rewarded. In amongst all the microplastics, there was treasure: a hamburger bean at Camber, and a nickar nut (and a Lego flipper from the 1997 container spill) at the Cuckmere!

Read this news from the Plastic Soup Foundation and see why surveying & recording for the pollution in our environment is a worthwhile path to take, One of the first successful actions against a petrochemical company polluter in the Netherlands. They have been losing millions of nurdles a day.

Sorting out hurdles or Bio-beads

This may be true in the medical industry, but have there been plastic single-use items, such as gloves, wet wipes etc been disposed of inappropriately? The images above were on my one shop last week.

Here is an interesting link around the discussion of Plastic pollution, reuse and Covid-19.

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