More than 70 kilograms of plastic waste removed from Brighton shoreline

Beach cleaners collecting litter near the Brighton pier

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More than 70 kilograms of plastic and pollution has been removed from the Brighton shoreline, following a mass beach and underwater clean around the pier.

The clean, which was led by experts at SEA LIFE Brighton on World Ocean Day (8th June), saw 123 volunteers collect a whopping 73.7 kilograms of litter over a four-hour period.

The mass of plastic waste was primarily made up of food packaging that had been left on the beach, as well as some unusual and larger objects including a pair of flamingo earrings and half a deck chair.

This is a huge difference to the previous year of the annual event, as the results were double that of the 2022 World Ocean Day beach clean that consisted of 37 participants and collected 40 kilograms of litter.

In addition to the efforts on land, experts at SEA LIFE Brighton teamed up with Oyster Diving to conduct the first ever underwater clean around Brighton pier, which resulted in the collection of countless disposable vapes and other plastic waste.

The team of divers even retrieved a full bottle of beer, novelty sunglasses and a mobile phone from the ocean bed.

The real extent of the impact all this litter is having on local marine life was made clear by the sea creatures the divers encountered, including a Tompot Blenny (fish) found living in a plastic tube, muscles attached to a laminated sign and a hairclip covered in enemies.

This comes after the WWF reported that more than half (52%) of the world’s turtles have eaten plastic waste and if things don’t change, by 2050 there could be more plastic in the sea than fish.

Every year more than one million marine animals die from plastic debris in our oceans, with more than 80% of all harmful pollutants tracing back to human activities on land, according to the global conservation charity, SEA LIFE Trust.

In addition to this annual effort, marine experts at SEA LIFE Brighton regularly participates in beach cleans as well as offering corporate beach cleaning days to help rid the shoreline of pollution all year round and protect the oceans for future generations.

Neil Harris, SEA LIFE Brighton General Manager said: “The beach clean was a huge success, helping to free the shoreline of more than 70 kilograms of litter – this will be a huge relief for local marine life.

“SEA LIFE Brighton is committed to continuing these efforts to rid local beaches of plastic waste and pollution, to protect our environment and all creatures therein.

“We can’t thank the volunteers enough who came down and helped out on the day, making it possible to collect and remove so much harmful litter.”

Joe Williams, SEA LIFE Brighton Curator said: “It is devastating to see our local marine life become so entangled in plastic waste, knowing that countless sea creatures are killed by litter every year.

“Thankfully, we were able to free the creatures we came across in the process of removing harmful waste from the seabed around the pier.

“It is really important that we protect marine life with underwater cleans like this one as well as beach cleans, as unfortunately lots of rubbish can be hidden under the surface of the water.”

For further information or to book a visit to SEA LIFE Brighton to hear more about the site’s conservation efforts, please visit: visitsealife.com/brighton/