Red flag at Silverstrand Beach as tide brings in Styrofoam pellets

Silverstrand Beach was covered in small Styrofoam pellets Sunday (5^th) morning, adding to the usual rubbish floating about. Even though there is a 200 m long “junk line” just off the beach, the small particles managed to get through.

Although the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) raised a red flag owing to the possibility of large waves, there were many people swimming and sun bathing.
According to a reporter from on.cc  the surface of the water is a mixture of dead fish and nets, spoiling the scenery. LCSD has a number of contractors at the scene who clean up rubbish, but the reporter said that a only few bags of pellets had been cleared away in the morning. It was expected that sand will be cleaner after high tide.

Many bathers quoted by on.cc said that they would continue to swim even if the water and beach was covered in pellets, although one woman swimmer noted that they were not nice to get into your bikini!