I would spend my summer holidays helping him on his creel boat or salmon fishing. Spending hours on hours staring out to sea. Watching the wildlife from fish and lobsters to seals, whales and birds. You could say this shaped my life. You see I only really feel at home by the water. When I lived in Edinburgh I struggled so much I bought a season pass to the castle because from the walls you could see the sea. The water is firmly in my blood you could say.
I remember searching the coast for treasures as a child. From sea glass to fossils there was so much to find. But what I would say is that back then on the northeast coast finding rubbish or plastic was pretty rare. There might have been a little bit of rubbish but it was never something I would notice. We would pop it in our bag and put it in the bin on the way home.
This photo was taken last night from my window.
I now live by the ocean on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands in a beautiful village called Mallaig. I have to say find rubbish here now tends to be more from visitors leaving it behind rather than actual ocean waste. I should mention that during the pandemic a Pedalo did wash up here when came from the south of Scotland. That was very strange and actually quite scary as it was floating under the waterline and could have caused an incident at sea.
I guess you can say my upbringing and geographical area may have shielded me from the true extent of the plastic and pollution in the oceans. That with a spring of Hollywood magic. I like you grew up watching all the movies based on the water. I mean come on the little mermaid is still one of my favourites.
It wasn't until I started travelling that I really notice the detrimental effects rubbish and plastic have had on our ocean and sea. I was once in the south of England and I was in a beautiful harbour village. I was watching the little sailing boats in the harbour when I noticed a big fish with what looked like part of a plastic bag wrapped around its body. That was a powerful moment for this naive little Highlander.
I started to really look at the beaches that I travelled to. Yes up here we are so lucky but there is more to the world than my little corner.
The beaches I was travelling to had so much rubbish on them. I was walking on one last week. Which was a very small stone beach, within a few feet, there was an old coffee capsule, food containers, three water bottles, and various items that at one time were plastics and a few meters of rope. This was all below the water line it was first thing in the morning so these had just washed up on the beach.
I was reading this really interesting post on Reimagining oceans. It was about the correlations between oceans in the movies and what they would really look like now. It was so interesting. We are all a bit mesmerised by our oceans and sea. We glamourise it, we fantasise about its beauty and the creature that lives in it. But we are all guilty of not really knowing the extent of the damage that has already been done to our oceans with our invention of plastics and over use of them.
We all grew up scared of Jaws and kinda hating Rose in the Titanic for killing Jack. Now Jack could have made a raft out of all the plastic bottles. He would float on by and save himself. Yes I know that is not possible.
But could you imagine if the little mermaid was made now? I would imagine her treasure trove would have a lot more things in it. I mean my walks on the beach have left me leaving with a big bag of rubbish to dispose of. It is actually quite terrifying if you really think about the impact we have had on our oceans.
If you are to let Hollywood guide your thoughts the ocean is so beautiful and clean and in no trouble at all. But if you ever go to the beach look at it for yourself and let that guide you. What you are seeing washed up is the tip of the iceberg. Pardon the pun but if this is what we are seeing on the surface what on earth is happening below?
We need to all start to really think about our oceans and seas and how we can make better choices and also how we can rebuild them. I know this can not happen overnight but starting the conversation will inspire change so. The next time you go to the beach have a real look and take off those rose-tinted glasses. Let's make a change.
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