How you can help as campaign promotes litter's danger to wildlife

Tracey Hope, the council’s environmental enforcement officer and marine medic as well as co-ordinator of the ltter picking volunteers, is encouraging everyone to get involved in litter picks and beach cleans during the National Marine campaign, currently running until August 7.

“Rubbish can very quickly find its way into the sea by being taken by the tide or on the winds and if marine animals ingest litter, it is highly likely to kill them,” said Tracey.

“We are so lucky to have species such as dolphins swimming in our local seas and there have been lots of sightings this year so far.

“Unfortunately, we are still finding unacceptable amounts of litter being left behind by visitors to our beautiful beaches, the vast majority of which is plastic - one of the biggest causes of death to marine life.

“If you have ever thought of taking part in a litter pick or beach clean, National Marine Week is the perfect time to start.

“We are currently meeting every evening at 7pm outside the RNLI station at St Annes to ensure we collect any rubbish that has been left behind that day.

“It would be wonderful to see more people joining us during the National Marine campaign and beyond.”

The National Marine campaign is organised by The Wildlife Trust and is a nationwide celebration of all things marine.

The UK’s seas are home to over half of all wildlife with more than 30,000 species, which all contribute to flood management and water purification.

According to www.earthday.org more than one million marine organisms are killed each year due to plastic in the sea and, as of 2021, there were at least 363,762,732,605 pounds of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans.

Coun Karen Buckley, leader of Fylde Council, said: “The majority of people leave the beach exactly how they found it, but the minority that don’t pose a real threat to the local marine life.

“With more than one million marine organisms killed each year across the world we need to take immediate action to play our local part in bringing these distressing numbers down.”

More information about litter volunteering is available here or by calling 07513 347913.