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Litter and wildlife

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Greyduster Mon 30-Oct-17 21:11:30

This is a big bug bear of mine and it happens not only in sea side situations but on fresh water fisheries and rivers. Though most are very responsible, there are still too many fishermen who discard used nylon line carelessly; water birds get tangled up in it. It takes no time to put it in a bag, bring it home, cut it up and bin it. Swans ingested discarded lead shot, mistaking it for grit, that poisoned them before it was banned. You also have to ask yourself how much discarded rope and netting comes off small commercial fishing boats. I have seen gannet nests made up almost entirely of this sort of material, which they pick up at sea, but I expect a lot is responsible for seabird deaths.

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vampirequeen Mon 30-Oct-17 20:39:34

Today we went on a boat ride on the River Esk at Whitby. Whilst on the boat we noticed a seagull behaving very strangely. The boatmen knew what was wrong straight away and they explained as they rescued the bird.

You may have seen the crabbing sets that are sold at many seaside resorts. These come with thin plastic wire that you tie a lure to and drop into the water. The wire is very, very long and invisible once in the water. Sometimes people accidently drop or throw the wire into the water when they've finished crabbing. The wild life in the harbour then gets tangled in it. This is what had happened to the gull.

The men managed to net it and cut the wire from around it's legs which were cut and bleeding. In gratitude the gull tried to peck them and when it couldn't it delivered a gift from the other end all over the chap who was holding it. But the men saved it and it flew away complaining.

They told us they do this several times a week and if only people would realise they need to dispose of the wire properly they could still enjoy crabbing whilst not endangering the wildlife. Sadly not all the trapped creatures survive.

It made me think of how we buy and dispose of things without a thought for how others (human and animal) are affected.

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