RYE has been hit by the “worst case” of plastic pollution ever seen in the region.
Beach cleaning advocate Josie Jones discovered thousands of nurdles (microplastic pellets) this morning while doing her daily sweep of the beach.
“There are thousands of nurdles along the high tide mark between the pier and groyne,” Ms Jones said.
“I have been picking up rubbish nearly every day along a 6km stretch of the Rye foreshore for three years and in all that time I have found just four nurdles.
“To see so many in such a small area is devastating. It’s really serious.”
Port Phillip Bay Keeper Neil Blake said he had not heard of an incident of that magnitude in the region before.
“It sounds like a major event,” he said.
“I have occasionally picked up maybe a dozen nurdles on peninsula beaches before, but I have never heard of these sort of numbers.”
Mr Blake said the pellets ended up in the bay as a result of inadequate waste handling procedures at factories using the materials to create plastic products.
“They are washed into the water catchment and eventually make their way into the bay,” he said.
Lucy Callander, Mornington Peninsula Leader
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