Pollution

Morecambe Bay and the Irish Sea have not escaped the problems of pollution common to many seas and coastal areas nowadays. Typical pollutants are sewage, radioactivity, oil, chemicals and plastic.

The discharge of raw sewage to beaches and inshore waters is still widespread in Britain with over 300 million gallons of sewage being discharged into Britain's coastal waters every day.

Caesium-137 can be traced in water currents from the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant through the Irish Sea, around the north of Scotland and into the North sea.

In 1990, grey seals in the Irish Sea were found to have 430ug/g of mercury in their livers. Cod and whiting in Liverpool Bay have over 5mg/kg of PCBs in their livers.

The effects of plastic rubbish on marine life can be devastating. Plastic pellets, 3-4mm in size are found throughout the oceans. Seabirds often mistake them for fish eggs and may consume fatal quantities.