Plastic Ocean

Our beaches in Cornwall have debris on them, little bits of plastic, fishing net, all sorts really.  Big things get removed and most large beaches are regularly cleaned.  You can not go to the beach though and not realise it's there.  Worryingly there has been a huge increase in littering recently.  As lockdown eases, people have been going to beaches and leaving all sorts behind.  Many facilities are closed, but it's no excuse...

A few years back we went to Rhodes and the beach in front of our hotel was pretty clean.  It soon became evident that the hotels along the beach had worked really hard to clean it up and then to keep it clean.  I found videos of them online celebrating their achievement when they were given clean beach status.

As we drove round the island it very quickly became apparent that there was a huge problem.  The coastline was awash with plastic.  We went to a beauty spot I had read about, a nature reserve called Prasonisi.  It was an amazing location, a sand spit joining a little island to Rhodes.  We didn't stay long though because the beach was entirely covered in rubbish.  We literally had to move rubbish out the way to make a place to sit on the sand.  This was quite a few years ago now, I hope it's better.

It made us realise how clean our beaches actually are here in Cornwall.

In recent years though, there has been increasing awareness of microplastics.  They are classified as pieces of plastic smaller than 5mm and because they do not degrade, they remain in the environment.  They are eaten and breathed in my all manner of organisms, from big to small and the issue in our oceans is tremendous.  Even corals ingest them.  Zooplankton do to and they are at the bottom of the food chain.  This means that those that eat zooplankton also eat all the microplastics and because they keep on eating the zooplankton, they keep on accumulating microplastics that do not necessarily pass out of them.  The very largest creatures in our oceans eat an awful lot of plastic.  

It isn't clear yet what the long term effects are but it's thought that plastics may result in reduced numbers of whales and sharks.  These are some of the most iconic creatures in our oceans, already vulnerable due to over fishing.

In Cornwall there are a number of people who have been drawing attention to this issue.  They take the plastics from the beaches and often they turn it in to art to draw attention to the issue.

The first one I became aware of was Lego Lost at Sea.  They used to have a lovely facebook page but it doesn't seem to be there any more.  They are still on twitter though and they have a book deal now.  In 1997 containers were swept off a ship called the Tokio Express  when it was about 20 miles from Land's End.  One of the containers contained some 5 million pieces of lego and they have been turning up on Cornish beaches.  Pieces remain trapped in the sand of beaches locally as well as having travelled considerable distances in the sea.

Lego Lost at Sea documents findings of these pieces and their twitter feed is full of pictures of their interesting finds, both individual pieces and laid out collections.  There is something very appealing about a collection of plastic laid out by colour, neatly categorised.  I think the lego pieces made it appealing to a huge audience and I really hope they sell lots of books.

Recently I have read about Rob Arnold, another local beachcomber who makes art from his findings, most noticeably an Easter Island style head.  He has spent lockdown sifting sand from Tregantle Beach.  Two van loads were delivered to him before lockdown and he has been sifting them finding 50 million plastic beads, just to begin with... (Another article here)

There was an exhibition at the Jupiter Gallery in Newly earlier this year, which I did not know about but I would like to have gone to.  Penzance has declared itself plastic free and the exhibition was organised with Plastic Free Penzance.  It featured photography from Adam Hill, a local doctor and photographer who joined an expedition called the Vortex Swim as well as art from Dan Lewis and Mini Beach Cleaner.  A film called Vitamin Sea by Cal Major was also shown.

The ocean is not surprisingly a huge part of life in Cornwall.  In 1990 Surfers Against Sewage was created because raw sewage was being pumped in the ocean without notice and surfers were frequently sick.  The charity did a lot of good work in campaigning on this issue and the situation is very different now!  They have continued their work as environmental advocates for the oceans and plastics are one of their focuses.  They created the initiative that encourages communities to become plastic free, of which, Penzance is the first.

These are probably just some organisations and individuals involved in promoting this issue locally.  There are bound to be a lot more internationally...  This article by Time lists thirteen international artists for instance. This post on Upcyclist has eight artists who use recycled plastic.  There is even a giant whale in Bruges made from oceanic rubbish.  I am sure there are many more artists, both local and international and the art they create is truly inspirational.

I have gathered as many pictures as I can find on this pinterest board, but I struggled with some of the local artists, their twitter or Instagram will give you a better idea of the range of their work.