Ocean of waste found by aerial litter survey
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OIL drums, a dumped car, abandoned kayaks, fishing creels and clay pigeon discs were among a sea of rubbish identified on the Ross-shire coast by a new aerial survey that is highlighting pollution in our oceans.
The litter was put under the spotlight following the launch of SCRAPbook – the Scottish Coastal Rubbish Aerial Photography programme – which has seen pilots and observers take to the skies to snap areas of pollution and rubbish in hard to reach sections of coastline.
The concept, first devised by the Moray Firth Partnership, has grown into a national collaboration with Sky Watch Civil Air Patrol and the Marine Conservation Society.
Sky Watch pilots have flown over sections of Scotland’s mainland coast for the last few months taking photographs when they see litter on the coastline.
These have been classified by volunteers on a scale of one to five, with five being the worst and then uploaded to an online map that anyone can use.
Schools, groups, water sports clubs and councils are all being urged to use the website to learn about the worst affected areas and focus clean-up efforts.
Vicky Junik, manager of the Moray Firth Partnership, said: "We hope that SCRAPbook will become an invaluable tool to everyone tackling the rising tide of marine litter.
"The easier it is to find out where the litter is, the easier it is to mobilise clean up efforts, and we’ve tried to focus on the less popular or harder to reach parts of the coastline, so we can build a really comprehensive picture of the reality and scale of the challenge; a challenge everyone can help tackle."
The aerial surveys passed over a number of Ross locations.
In Applecross they spotted everything from a football and various plastic containers to a plastic fishbox and buoy.
At Mount Gerard three plastic drums were found near the road, and there was a range of general scatter on the shore.
At Ardullie, there was rubbish from the local lay-by as well as a tyre and plastic sheeting.
Broken clay pigeon discs were spotted in Novar, while at Balblair plastic wrapping and fishboxes were found.
At Jemimaville the survey found blue plastic, a tyre, and oil drums, while in Barbaraville, the finds included a burn site, rusted metal, as well as plastic sheeting.
At Arabella there was a dumped car and rusted oil drum, while in Navity more than 10 abandoned creels, two bouys and rope were found.
Lots of tyres and two heavy objects were discovered at Tain, while nearby at the Dornoch Bridge, surveyors found metal sheeting, large cabling and twisted metal. A farm trailer chassis was found at Avoch. And at Nigg, an abandoned kayak, plastic pieces and a large rusting boat were found.
For more details about the project visit www.scrapbook.org.uk
