Volunteers have been removing large slabs of polystyrene littering an East End shoreline to prevent the material from breaking down and entering the marine environment.
Samantha Cooper, a ‘marine champion’ with the Cayman branch on the British Sub-Aqua Club, known as BSAC, has been spearheading a small team of volunteers to take the polystyrene off the beach.
She says it is believed the chunks of the material at Spotter Bay, at the north-eat tip of Grand Cayman, came from an abandoned and decaying metal boat, possibly used by Cubans.
“The problem with these large pieces is they will break down into tiny bits of polystyrene and go everywhere and get eaten by fish,” said Cooper. “That’s why I was so keen to get the big bits.”
Just a rusting metal frame and some wooden planks remain of the boat abandoned on the shoreline. “It’s been there for ages,” Cooper said. “It washed up earlier last year.”
Jill Gordon, who lives in the area, alerted Cooper and BSAC of the material that was littering the shoreline.
Cooper is the designated BSAC marine champion in Cayman, and this is her first project since taking up the role last year. Marine champions are volunteers who lead ocean conservation efforts in the individual scuba diving clubs.
So far, the team has collected and removed 55 large garbage bags with the polystyrene, which were then transported to the landfill by the Department of Environmental Health.
Some of the material remains at the beach, and Cooper and other volunteers plan to continue their efforts to remove it.
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