Marine litter from near and far regularly washes up on the region’s beaches.
The Solway Firth Partnership has been attempting to track where it all originates from.
The move is part of the Positive Action for a Cleaner Solway project supported by the Holyrood Government through Marine Fund Scotland.
Items washed up recently include part of a fishing float with goose barnacles that originated in tropical seas, grave flowers and a milk bottle from closer to home.
Some are “weird and wonderful” and with every beach clean this month more are expected to come to light.
Nic Coombey, project officer for the Dumfries-based Solway Firth Partnership, said: “The source of many objects is difficult to identify but occasionally we are able to pinpoint the location by using our detective powers with a lot of help from the internet.
“A fishing float recently discovered on the shore at Newbie, near Annan, was covered in goose barnacles – an indication that it had spent time in more tropical seas.
“Closer inspection revealed that the buoy had a fishing registration number for a boat from Rockport, Massachusetts, USA.
“On a Southerness beach clean a container was found that was also covered in goose barnacles. The container is labelled Cola Cao, a unique Spanish hot-chocolate drink loved by children.
“It must have spent some time floating in warmer seas to allow the goose barnacles to establish before being carried north by waves and currents.”
He added: “We are inquisitive about the source of debris found on our beaches. A buoy marked GU199 from a vessel based in Guernsey was found near Port Logan on the Dumfries and Galloway shore.
“We assume the buoy was accidently lost while creel fishing for crabs and was carried by sea currents into the Irish Sea and then driven by wind and waves to SW Scotland.”
Another find was a Tony’s lobster bait jar that has ridden the oceans currents to arrive all the way from Newfoundland.
Nic said: “The remains of goose barnacles and a crab inside must have entered through the perforations as larvae and lived inside until it reached cooler waters.”
Plastic finds include a milk crate from Northern Ireland, a street sign thought to be from Belfast and a Knowsley libraries card.
Another mystery find is a ball called a sliotar which is used in the traditional Irish sport of hurling.
Nic said: “While we cant know where each ball came from it is likely that they originated in Ireland and have been accidently lost, perhaps after being hit into a river where it has washed out to sea and floated across the sea to arrive on the Scottish coast. One ball is marked FINS 2011 but there are no other clues.”
Some answers have come from posting finds on their Facebook page. One example is an Ultrabeam Hydrographic hard hat.
It promoted a reply to Solway Firth Partnership from the company which said: “Wow! I don’t know where this was lost. We are currently working in South Wales on a boat.
“I’m surprised the sticker survived. Many thanks for recovering it. We are really sorry this ended up as pollution in the sea.”
And there is no telling how long rubbish has taken to wash in or been lying there. A 2015 Little Red Riding Hood poster for Gaiety Panto in Dublin was found on the beach at Port Logan.
Nic said: “We assume the plastic poster washed up on the shore six years ago and was buried in the sand dunes before being uncovered and gathered at a recent beach clean.”
Branded items are easier to trace such as a balloon from Queen’s Arcade in Belfast and a recycling bin from SK waste solutions which is based in Stockport.
Nic said: “We can only assume the bin has been carried 69 miles down the length of the River Mersey to be collected by the Irish Sea and delivered to the Galloway coast. The bin was part of the haul from Mullock Bay collected by volunteers and organised by DG Eco Warriors.”
Another beach-retrieved recycling bin came from land-locked Burnley and was found at Rascarrel Bay.
Solway Firth Partnership is keen for the public to get in touch if they find objects on the beaches where the source can be identified. Anyone who has any should message the team on its Facebook page or email: projects@solwayfirthpartnership.co.uk and any pictures taken would be appreciated.
