Wrecked

On display in the exhibition is a section of the hull of the 'Sea Empress'. In 1996 dramatic news reports showed 72,000 tonnes of crude oil spilling into the sea. This spill killed thousands of seabirds and other kinds of marine life. It polluted more than 200 kilometres (125 miles) of coastline.

Clean up... doing the right thing?

Cleaning up after an oil spill involves difficult decisions. Many of the clean-up methods, like the chemicals used to disperse oil, are expensive and can also harm the environment.

For the Sea Empress oil spill, a number of methods were used that were co-ordinated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency:

• Floating booms were used to scoop up 2000 tonnes of oil.
• Chemicals sprayed from aircraft dispersed 36,000 tonnes of oil.
• Beaches were cleaned with shovels and water jets.

Maritime and Coastguard Agency

In the event of a major oil spill, the UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency co-ordinates all the counter-pollution and clean-up operations carried out at sea. They also give technical support to the local authority dealing with the shoreline. During the clean-up operation, the Agency co-ordinates the advice from the government fisheries and environmental regulators, as well as nature conservation bodies.

Maritime and Coastguard Agency

www.mcga.gov.uk

 

World travellers

An unusual incident highlighted just how far litter can travel. In 1992, a container load of 29,000 bath toys fell into the ocean on its way from Hong Kong to the United States. The toys got battered by the waves, swept along in the currents and blown by the wind. Eleven years later, one toy frog made it to Scotland. Scientists now keep track of the toys to learn about ocean currents.

Please keep your own toys in the bath! If you drop litter in Brighton, it could end up killing a turtle swimming off New York!

 

Pom poms

Pom poms are used to help clean up the shore after an oil spill. They are made from bundles of polypropylene fibres that attract oil and repel water. Each pom pom can absorb 25 times its own weight in oil.

Oil wipes

Oil is wiped off the rocks by hand using the pom poms. They can soak up oil in nooks and crannies, which cannot be reached by vacuum units or skimmers. The oil-soaked pom poms need to be disposed of carefully.

 

Down the loo

In Britain about 2 billion plastic items such as cotton buds, tampons, condoms and panty liners are flushed down the toilet each year. Some pass through the sewage treatment works and end up on the beach.

Cotton on

Cotton buds are one of the worst offenders because they can squeeze through filters at sewage works. Many cotton buds stems are made from polypropylene, which persists in the environment.

Out with the overflow

Many kinds of plastics and other sewage-related debris are flushed onto the shore when sewers overflow after heavy rainfall. The overflow bypasses the treatment works so that it does not back up and flood houses.