Youth of today, eh? Just lazing about, playing with their computer games and not doing anything for the greater good...
Well, no.
At the weekend, youngsters from the Boston Wildlife Explorers club came out to Frampton Marsh, to show how much they care for nature and to do some practical conservation work. At their last meeting, a representative from Eastern Inshore Fishery and Conservation Alliance told them all about the dangers of marine rubbish to wildlife. Plastic, fishing lines and all sort of other junk clogs up the sea. Animals can get tangled in it or try to eat it, mistaking it for food, and suffer agonizing deaths. Well, these kids decided to do something about it!
So, on Sunday morning they gathered, to scour the shoreline at Frampton Marsh and gather in all the rubbish that had been stranded by the big high tide. That way, it wouldn't be washed out to sea again next time there was another big high tide. For an hour and a half, the children (with some adult help) toiled tirelessly, picking up the debris that littered the shore.
The amount of plastic strewn along the strandline was quite astounding. Of course, everyone was very careful, using litter pickers to grab all the rubbish. Some things needed a bit more effort though!
When the session was done, off just 100 metres of shoreline they had managed to collect 6 Kg of plastic rubbish. Twelve sacks were filled in total, with items being found including tennis balls, shoes, fishing tackle and umpteen drinks bottles. Larger items included plastic drums, 6 car tyres and a TV! It just goes to show how much rubbish there is out there, clogging up our beautiful seas and coastlines.
The Boston Wildlife Explorers is a club for youngsters interested in nature. They meet once a month at Freiston Shore, with different fun themed activities each time. To find out more about the group, go to their website http://www.rspb.org.uk/groups/boston/
Reedbed, freshwater scrapes, saltmarsh and wet meadow. Frampton Marsh has it all! Come and pay us a visit soon.