Caroline Maffia, the unit’s assistant director, said that the bird had been trying unsuccessfully to fly away when it was spotted. She is now asking the public to be more careful with their waste.
‘Two officers were collecting bathing-water samples and saw a seagull trying to fly away and get pulled back,’ she said.
‘We do see general debris and we do move that off the beach but this is the first time we have actually come into contact with them.
‘It highlights what can go wrong if you do not take any litter away – we have all seen the images of sea turtles caught up in all sorts of things.’
Mrs Maffia said that in the early stages of summer, she wanted to remind people to clear up after themselves when visiting the coast.
She said: ‘It sounds a bit new-age but people should only be leaving their footprints and what they take to the beach they should take back with them.’
She added that she would also like to remind Islanders that sea water quality test results were now available online by visiting gov.je/environment and clicking the ‘protecting our sea water and coast’ link.
