~
Why does this always seem to happen here?
Remember the mysterious plastic disks that were washing up at Manor Beach back in 2011?
We have a similar situation again, but a solved mystery this time. Mamaroneck resident Katherine Desmond writes that while visiting the soon-to-be Village of Mamaroneck Marine Education Center at Harbor Island Park, she noticed small white plastic pellets mixed into the floating debris in the high water line, on the East Basin boat ramp.
They were, she said, about the size of tapioca. She remembered seeing them them all over the ground in the Flats,, around Marval Industries when she walked home from work at the CAP Center in the 1990’s.
Marval’s Web site reads, “We are committed to providing colorants, additives, compounds and resins of exceptional quality to the plastic industry.”
But what about the waterways of Mamaroneck? Surely that’s not one of their commitments?
“Marval Industries is situated right along the very edge of the Sheldrake River,” says Desmond. “I’d guess these catch basins regularly deliver millions of pellets to the Sheldrake River, into Mamaroneck Harbor and Long Island Sound. The pellets are so small that I bet birds and fish are eating them. These have to be harmful to birds, fish and wildlife.”
What do you think?
They can be fatal. Albatross chicks near the great Pacific Trash swirl are found starved to death because their stomachs are filled with tiny pieces of plastic instead of real food. Of course the plastic fills their digestive tract so they starve. For fish and water birds, plastic pellets resemble food.