Working closely with local groups, the team of scientists from Loughborough, Nottingham Trent, Lincoln, and Keele universities visited the island’s remote shores last summer to analyse the extent of the litter washed up by ocean currents.
It comes after lead researcher Dr Tom Stanton found a 50-year-old academic paper which warned about the impact of plastics and rubbish being brought Skye by sea.
The film, 50 years of litter on Skye, follows the team as they discover isolated beauty spots such as Camasunary (pictured above) that are carpeted in plastics and discarded fishing equipment.
The aim of the project is to find new techniques for mapping polluted beaches, including with drones, to see if the true extent of the rubbish can be measured.
Detailed investigations at Camasunary identified hotspots of litter containing more than 1,000 pieces of litter per 1 sqm of beach.
The team also tracked the origins of the rubbish washed up on the shores. Among the more exotic items, they found a Chinese-made fire extinguisher, food packaging from the US and thousands of used shotgun cartridges which they believe travelled to the island from Canada.
Skye’s natural beauty is maintained by park and groundskeepers as well as volunteer environmentalists.
In Ostaig, in the south, staff at the Clan Donald Estate and Armadale Castle found items including a washed-up wheelie bin from the mainland when they joined the Loughborough team for a beach clean.
Emily Johns, a local volunteer with Skye Beach Cleans, also showed Dr Stanton satellite images of huge fishing nets strewn across the Skye coastline (highlighted below).
The film, 50 years of litter on Skye, is being shown on March 21, at 6pm, in the Edward Herbert Building (EHB) at Loughborough University.
The event will also include a public lecture by Dr Tom Stanton with opportunities to ask questions. It takes place as part of Loughborough’s Sustainability Week.
To book a place at the showing, visit: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/news-events/events/film-screening-50-years-of-litter-on-skye/
- Alternatively, if you can’t make the showing you can watch the video on YouTube.
ENDS