7th May

It is Bank Holiday Monday and after the dismal weather of the weekend and a less than encouraging forecast, we wake up to sunshine! There is a chilly wind but the sun transforms the beach. There are lots of kites, many dogwalkers and two girls even attempt to swim. Sandmartins swoop frenetically by the cliffs.
It is a building tide with all the usual kinds of rubbish on the beach but a notable number of plastic bottles, sanitary towels and balloons. Regrettably, I could have filled my two carrier bags several times over...
Bizarrely, we find a fat dead adder at the high tide line at Thorpeness - presumably drowned in the previous week's big seas...?


high tide: 11.25 hrs 2.9m, low tide: 17.31 hrs 0.2m
time of arrival: 11.50 hrs  
weather: sunshine, wind SE 14 mph, temperature 12c
marine litter: many plastic bottles, sanitary towels and balloons

 

13th February

Finally the temperatures are rising - today is a comfortable 6 degrees... Yet, to my surprise, much of the snow that fell 10 days ago remains on the shingle.

Sea defence work is finshed but it doesn't look so at the northern end. I understand that a shingle bank is hoped to form over time as a result of the geotextile bags.

The eroding cliffs reveal fascinating textures and falling sand is scattered on the snow.

There is some angling litter (telltale signs: discarded newpaper and frozen fish packaging) and an unusual number of large bottles. There is also a considerable amount of foreign language items: eg water from Malaysia, juice from Dubai as well as the usual Dutch, Belgian and French offenders - almost certainly jettisoned illegally off ships. The high tide spits plastic cups and sanitary towels onto the shoreline.

A cormorant (or is it a shag?) flaps its wings by the water's edge.

low tide: 08.26 hrs 0.3m, high tide: 14.38 hrs 2.6m

time of arrival: 14.01 hrs

weather: cloudy with some drizzle and occasional near-glimmers of weak sunshine, wind NW 15mph, temperature 6c
marine litter: large amount of plastic bottles and litter from foreign sources (presumed to be from shipping)

 

 

11th November

 A flying visit to the south of the barricades to see what is happening but all the action is north towards the ness.The seas are quite wild and have thrown a lot of plastic onto the shore so, though no time to stop long, it doesn't take long to collect a bag of rubbish. A lot of plastic bottles and containers this time - including from France and Holland, probably recent discards off ships.
Still the seaweed...

low tide:

time of arrival: 11.54 hrs

weather: cloudy, wind SE 15mph (est), temperature 10c
marine litter: bottles, containers.