MAN MADE BEACH FINDS

Willem Krommenhoek

The English Channel, the Strait of Dover and the southern North Sea are known for their extremely intensive shipping. Tens of thousands of ships, ranging from the biggest containerships each containing thousands of containers, to cruise ships and smaller cargo vessels pass here annually on their way to and from London, Rotterdam in Holland, Antwerp in Belgium and Hamburg in Germany. Many of these ships are registered in Third World countries, saving their companies a lot of money. And as getting rid of the waste and refuge of a freighter in a European harbor costs money, it therefore is a common practice to dump it into sea. This way of clearing up is also practiced by fishing boats and pleasure crafts.

As a result of this practice beaches along these waterways are scattered with a variety of waste, set overboard deliberately, as well as items that fell overboard accidentally and were consequently lost. Whatever feelings one has about it, fact is that these man-made beach findings are part of our Sea and Shore as well, and therefore are mentioned here. To show the effect, I visited a wide beach in a nature reserve on the island of Goeree in the southwest of Holland in August 2006.

In the category of articles that fell overboard accidentally there is footwear like boots, shoes and flip-flops; gloves, buckets and ropes, as well as tins with buoyant smoke. Objects which were most likely lost in action are parts of nylon fishing nets and floats. These nets usually form clews that trap sand and occasionally start the formation of small dunes. Another catagory found on the beach is packing material for cargo, like polystrene foam, plastic foil and bags, pieces of tarpaulin, canvass, coarse netting and plastic containers. Occasionally crates and pallets are found as well.

The biggest catagory of man-made beach finds is that of bottles and tins and to a lesser extend sprays. Bottles of all sizes and shapes and in a variety of colors, both of plastic and glass, are found in countless numbers. Most of them contained drinks, but among them are also glass pots that contained vegetables, and bottles that contained frying oil. Tins are found in all stages of wear, indicating different periods of erosion. Most of the tins are beer tins, but there were also tins that contained exotic drinks and juices. Plastic cups were found covered with marine organisms, indicating that they must have spend quite a time in sea water. It is obvious that all this was deliberately dumped into the sea.

However, the most unlikely beach finds are large chunks of coal, about 20-30 cm in diameter. They must have originated from steamships, but those you never see anymore. Probably they have been on the beach for quite some time.

Used to beautiful pictures of beautiful shells in this magazine, one should realize that man also spoils a lot of the original beauty of Sea and Shore.

 

 

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