Sad State of Local Beaches and Oceans, Gibsons, Sunshine Coast BC

Wrecked Sailboat, Gibsons, BC

Being a beachcomber, for the past many years I have walked the local beaches. It's part of my job, as I use a bit of driftwood and beach stone in my artwork. I have been pretty happy over the years at the lack of trash and plastic on our local beaches: until this year. The past months I have noted a sad increase in plastic, cans, ropes, and especially styrofoam and fibreglass shards. I blame irresponsible pleasure boaters for the vast majority of this pollution. The styrofoam comes from docks that drift away and breakup. The fibreglass from pleasure craft that are left to crumble on beaches, such as the one pictured above.

The sailboat above landed on the beach two years ago. It seemed fine, and it surprised me that no one salvaged it, as surely the hull must have been of some value. But no. It sat there and then, after several large storms, started to break apart. Now it is not fine at all. Now there are from dinner plate to almost microscopic shards of fibreglass all up and down the beach. Ugly, and surely detrimental to marine life.

There have been several significant storms this winter, and now there are a bunch of dinghies, some more boats, and some industrial-type barges on the local beaches. Yesterday, another large fibreglass hull (picture below) washed ashore.

Where is the government? Department of Fisheries (DFO)? Local government (SCRD, Town of Gibsons)? I don't know. No one seems particularly interested in acting, but action (and the quicker the better) is exactly what is needed. Don't we all understand that our oceans (world) are at high risk, and do we not have even the gumption to deal with our own little part? I am not a boater, and I am not an expert, but it looked like the boat above would have been easy to drag off and deal with during the first year. Now it has holes in it, and it would be a more complex issue.

There is an 'eco-tax' on many things: paint, electronics, batteries, etc. Why not implement a yearly fee on boats and docks, maybe just a few dollars a foot, and use that money to set up a quick action group with a telephone number, a branch that would respond quickly-- much like oil spills seem to be dealt with? But from all I have seen (ie, no action at all) over the past months regarding the above boat, I expect it will be left to further deteriorate, spreading more micro-fibres across the region. Too sad!

The styrofoam is often first seen in very large blocks after escaping from under a dock. It quickly breaks down into small pieces, is extremely unsightly, and I bet very damaging to the environment and marine life. There is an absolutely horrendous amount recently on local shorelines. Terrible. Ban the stuff. There must be another way to float a dock?

Most Recent Fiberglass Hull to Land on the Shore

Fiberglass Fibres from the Sailboat at the Top