50 Years of Litter on Skye
A short film produced by Loughborough University hopes to highlight the issue of coastal pollution on the Isle of Skye and the efforts of researchers and environmentalists who are fighting to keep the beaches clean.
Working closely with local groups, the team of scientists from Loughborough, Nottingham and Keele visited the island’s remote shores last summer to analyse the extent of the litter washed up by ocean currents.
It comes after lead researcher Dr Tom Stanton found a 50-year-old academic paper which warned about the impact of plastics and rubbish being brought Skye by sea.
The film, 50 years of litter on Skye, follows the team as they discover isolated beauty spots such as Camasunary that are carpeted in plastics and discarded fishing equipment.
The aim of the project is to find new techniques for mapping polluted beaches, including with drones, to see if the true extent of the rubbish can be measured.
