Since the Cayman Compass reported on Thursday that vials of blood and a syringe had been found on Seven Mile Beach, several people have come forward to describing finding similar vials – some with intact labels – on beaches around the island.
Ellen Cuylaerts said she had found five vials of blood at Pease Bay since Monday.
She told the Compass, “They look so fresh, [they were] not in the water a long time.”
Nicola Holdsworth found a vial of blood on the beach outside her home on South Sound on Wednesday morning. She said she and her husband have come across several such vials and syringes on the beach in the past.
Speaking about finding the latest vial, Holdsworth said, “I found it literally right outside the house. I was just picking up a flip flop or a plastic bottle and I went ‘Oh, look, another one.’ And I just read the [Compass] article.”
She added, “My husband has found some needles, but has found quite a few of the blood vials. I’ve seen a few but he walks the dogs on the beach more than I do so he has come across them more than I have, especially after a storm. That’s when all the rubbish washes up.”
She said she had never thought of reporting finding these items. “We’d just pick them up and put them in the bin,” she said.
She kept the blood vial she found on Wednesday morning because its label was intact “and maybe it’s traceable”.
She added, “We’re supposed to get more weather this weekend, so more could wash up.”
Unlike the vials of blood found on Seven Mile Beach earlier this week, which had no labels on them, the vials found by Cuylaerts and Holdsworth have labels on which serial numbers are clearly visible. However, there is no name of any individual or any medical facility or laboratory on the labels.
Cuylaerts wrote on Facebook, “Despite more finds around the island, also of syringes, no clear answers have been given to the public. Are these local? Pretty easy to track with numbers intact! Have they been disposed of offshore?”
Health Service Authority CEO Lizzette Yearwood posted a comment on Cuylaerts’s post, saying, “It is highly unlikely that they are from Cayman. I’m quite sure all the facilities label the tubes with the name and details of the person whose blood is in the tube, like we do at the HSA.”
Yearwood also advised her that she could drop the vials at the Cayman Islands Hospital for proper disposal.
Cuylaerts said she had taken two of the vials to a police station, but officers there appeared indifferent to what she had found and just advised her to put them in a trash bin.
Other people across the island described finding more vials on beaches in Bodden Town and South Sound, as well as on Seven Mile Beach. Another person said she recently had found two hypodermic needles on Governors Beach, while another found a syringe at Surfers Beach on South Sound this week.
The Compass has reached out to a number of authorities in Cayman regarding the vials, and is awaiting responses.
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We found 2 of these vials on the beach in Frank Sound 4 weeks ago. The blood looks fresh.
Take them down to DoE.
They are the competent authority for marine pollution. In the past they have used the lot numbers on packaging to pinpoint the origin of items that have later been discarded into the sea. Several years ago, many pill pots containing expired antibiotics washed up and it was determined by Deputy Dorextor Scott Slaybaugh that they came from a military warehouse in South Florida. Not saying that this is the case in this instance, but they may be able to assist.