Respect for a precious resource

Fortunately, no one was hurt when the vessel was brought to an abrupt halt and, equally fortunately, no serious damage was done.

However, similar incidents in the past have resulted in injury and craft of many sorts have been immobilised and imperilled, especially in adverse weather conditions, as a result of the negligence of those who have heedlessly abandoned rubbish in the sea.

A section of trawl net made of floating material – which, to be fair, might have been lost accidentally through being ripped out on a seabed obstruction – is clearly a major danger to vessels of limited size, but much less impressive items can do significant damage and even threaten life. Discarded plastic bags, for instance, can be drawn into cooling water inlets, leading to engine failure. And it does not require a huge sense of imagination to understand what can happen when a speedboat or even a yacht under full sail hits an object such as a pallet board.

Less apparent to those who are not familiar with the sea are the risks posed by amateur – and occasionally professional – fishermen who use floating rope to mark their lobster pots. This rope, which is difficult to spot in anything but flat calm conditions, can bring a small boat travelling at high speed to a standstill in an instant, quite possibly throwing its occupants into the water.

The point is that many of these risks are entirely avoidable – if people are prepared to behave responsibly. As a slogan frequently used to promote marine environmentalism says, the sea is not a dustbin. To use it as such is to act irresponsibly and, in some circumstances, to put lives at risk.

And there is a further dimension to the problem associated with disrespect for the sea around us – the damage that human detritus can do to marine life. Turtles and whales ingest plastic rubbish and die as a result, lengths of fishing line thrown carelessly over the side snare sea birds, and even the polythene that holds together four-packs of beer can become fatal traps.

Far from being a dustbin, the sea is a precious part of our environment and a resource which deserves the greatest possible respect from seafarers and landlubbers alike.