Shelley Beach indicates extent of plastic pollution in world's oceans
Shelley Beach is situated in the remote Nuyts Wilderness on Western Australia's south coast, but its isolation has not spared it from the global issue of plastic pollution.
The small pieces of plastic collected here by tour guide Gary Muir and his guests have provided crucial data for a recent University of Western Australia study.
Peter Speldewinde oversaw the project by student Agustiawan, who looked at what type of plastic was washing up and why.
"It only comes along once in a while you get this kind of data," Dr Speldewinde said.
For nearly a decade Mr Muir and his tour groups have cruised by boat from Walpole to the isolated mooring spot before taking a short walk through along the beach to collect plastic.
"You take people to this pristine beach and it does look pristine — until you start looking for plastics," he said.
Plastic pollution on south coast beaches in WA is limited, but it is indicative of the wider problem.
"It gets scary when you've just collected, in 120 metres, 100 pieces on a beach," Mr Muir said.
"You think, 'There's nothing here' — you times that by nine and you get [roughly] a kilometre, then times that by how many beaches you have, you go, 'Wow.'"
People on Mr Muir's eco-cruise take on the role of citizen scientists as they scour a 120m stretch of sand at the high-tide mark.
"It's one way to allow people who come out with us as part of ecotourism to have an understanding and awareness of our world and also people's role within it," Mr Muir said.
The devastating impact plastic pollution can have on wildlife is seen on Lord Howe Island, off Australia's east coast, where seabirds have become so full of plastic they crackle and crunch.
The study found wind direction was a key driver in the accumulation of plastic on the beach and that wind strength had a limited role.
The Raman spectroscopy analysis technique was used to help identify the type of polymer.
Most of the samples found were high-density polyethylene, a common hard plastic used in objects such as crates and bottles.
Agustiawan said he was hoping to complete more research on microplastics in his home country of Indonesia, including an examination of how much was transported through currents to WA.
"I think microplastics is one of the biggest problems in the world right now," he said.
"Even if we stopped using plastic today, microplastics will still be a problem 100 years from now because plastic will last a really long time."
Agustiawan said a significant amount of the waste collected at Walpole was comprised of pellets known as nurdles.
The lentil-sized pellets are melted down to form the basis of most plastic products.
Some of the tiny plastic pellets found at the Walpole beach were from 2017, when the MSC Susanna lost two containers, which resulted in more than 40 tonnes of nurdles ending up in the water off the South African city of Durban.
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