Litter Sinks
Key Findings
- The Scottish Government (n.d.) defines litter sinks as "an area where marine litter accumulates due to a combination of wind direction, tidal motion and the spin of the earth.". These areas require frequent cleaning to prevent litter levels becoming out of hand.
- The litter accumulating on these beaches often includes industrial waste, high volumes of unidentifiable small plastic pieces, and high volumes of dead seaweed that creates an unpleasant smell as it degrades.
- While historically seaweeds were harvested and used as fertilisers or ingredients, the Anthropogenic rise of microplastics throughout the oceans mean that modern sinks of seaweed are unusable for such purpose (Marine Scotland, 2018).
- Along the Aberdeenshire Coastline, notable sinks include Craigewan Beach (W3W: flattens.diver.flagged), Cairnbulg Beach (W3W: tested.final.backfired), and Sandford Bay (W3W: comet.according.incur). (EGCP, 2019)
- In August 2024 a single beach clean by EGCP and SSE removed over 25 tonnes of waste from Sandford Bay. EGCP Turning the Plastic Tide targets litter sinks for intensive beach cleans to remove the maximum amount of waste before it is degraded by the marine environment making it harder to remove and more likely to enter the food chain as microplastics.
- Various initiatives are in place to tackle these sink sites along the Grampian coast, including EGCP led beach litter picks and 'Take 4 for the Shore' scheme, KIMO's 'Fishing for Litter' scheme, and Beachwatch by the Marine Conservations Society. .
Fig. 1: Cairnbulg Beach ianhaywildlife@outlook.com
Notes
None
Linked Information Sheets
Perceived Health of, and Threats to the Marine Environment - Numbers of fishing vessels – Training - Employment
Key sources of Information
Reviewed on/by
25/06/24 by Cathryn Lovie
14/08/24 by Ian Hay
Status
First Draft (this is for demonstration only at this time and has not been reviewed)
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Contact us
Telephone: 07971149117
E-mail: ian.hay@stateofthecoast.scot
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