RUBBISH being dumped on beaches and in the sea in the island is continuing to cause problems for Manx wildlife.
Last week a basking shark was seen off Contrary head with plastic lodged firmly around it’s nose – the news follows recent reports of seals and seabirds being wrapped up in litter.
Jackie Hall, co-ordinator for Manx Basking Shark Watch, said the situation is ‘appalling’.
While conducting a full ‘passport’ on the affected basking shark, the team from Manx Basking Shark Watch, assumed the animal was a female because it was behaving more like a female than a male. It was veering away from their boat, while males normally veer towards it.
Craig Whalley from Manx Marine managed to capture underwater video footage of the basking shark.
It was only when they watched back the footage it became apparent that the male was veering away from the boat because of the plastic which was lodged firmly around the nose.
Jackie assumed the mark was a ring scar. She said: ‘At first glance I assumed that this may have been caused by fishing line catching around its large sensitive nose.
‘But looking more closely it appears to be a large circular plastic tie-wrap of the kind that is used to strap boxes together.
‘These wraps are often seen in the huge piles of plastic debris on the shoreline.
‘This poor male basking shark will probably have this painful appendage for a very long time.
‘You cannot catch a five-metre long basking shark to do a medical procedure on it – if you did, it would probably kill the shark.’
It is not clear if this is another shark or a shark from 2001 which had the exact same problem. Jackie said that it is possible it may be the same shark which has grown, and the plastic has tightened up.
Bill Dale, who established Beach Buddies in 2006 with his partner Sandy Huyton and continues to stage beach cleans around the Manx coast, said: ‘The best way to keep beaches, glens and footpaths clean is – very simply – not to throw rubbish in the street, or anywhere else.
‘Throw rubbish anywhere and it will either end up in a drain, get blown in the wind until it falls in a river and then it eventually goes out to sea and ends up on our beaches.
‘In particular, as shown this week with the basking shark, plastic and plastic bags can be very dangerous to wildlife, as basking sharks feed on plankton – as do jellyfish – and a floating plastic bag looks just like a jellyfish, but can be lethal.’
Anyone wishing to get involved with Beach Buddies should contact Bill on {mailto:beachbuddies@manx.net|beachbuddies(at)manx.net}.