Following our beach clean last week, Brighton beach has since been polluted with hundreds of thousands of tiny polystyrene balls! It was reported that they were seen all along the seafront from the Palace Pier and past Hove.
Where did they come from?
It is thought that the tiny balls were blown down from a pontoon that was damaged in bad weather last month off the coast of Kent. They have since blown westwards along Hove and are sinking into the shingles and pebbles.
The council is currently talking with environmental experts on the best way to remove them from the beach.
Locals have been painstakingly removing the tiny balls. It has been said that the easiest way is to wash the pebbles in a bucket of water as the balls will float to the top, therefore allowing them to be easily scooped out.
Environmental effects
The tiny polystyrene balls will have a damaging effect on the environment and marine life. They can be easily mistaken for food by the animals at the beach which could have detrimental effects on the food chain as the plastic could later be ingested by humans.
Leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, Phélim Mac Cafferty, also exclaimed the untold damage that single-use plastics have. They are carcinogenic and do not biodegrade, therefore they will be in the environment for countless years.
How can we help?
Aquapax will continue their weekly beach cleans and we will also focus on helping the cleanup of these polystyrene balls in Brighton.
Our next Brighton beach clean is Monday 19th April. We will meet by the i360 at 9am, if you would like to join in please get in contact with us so we can provide appropriate PPE.
If you are not able to join our Monday beach clean, please consider helping Brighton beach by collecting a handful of polystyrene balls next time you are taking a walk along the seaside.