Pied Avocet at Ha Pak Nai, Hong Kong on 15 December 2012

A pair of Pied Avocets (Recurvirostra avosetta) foraging at the mouth of the Pak Nai Watercourse (CH00 + 000) at Ha Pak Nai, Hong Kong on 15 December 2012. These birds are winter visitors to Hong Kong.

Turritella. Chep Lap Kok and Hei Ling Chau, Hong Kong. 10 October 2012.

These are photographs of Turritella bacillum trawled from the seabed off Chep Lap Kok and Hei Ling Chau, Hong Kong on 10 October 2012:

Chep Lap Kok, Hong Kong

  

Hei Ling Chau, Hong Kong

Plastic Nurdle spill – Nurdles still in the environment

During Typhoon Vicente which hit Hong Kong on 23 July 2012 a container ship near Hong Kong lost 7 x 40 foot containers. Six of these containers were each loaded with 1000 x 25 kilogram bags of Plastic Nurdles (pre-production Plastic Pellets). Five of these containers have since been located. All of them had lost some or most of their contents.

These bags and loose Nurdles started washing up on Hong Kong beaches soon afterwards. The majority of Nurdles which washed up on our shores were recovered during a massive volunteer cleanup operation which was initiated immediately after the spill.

Because Typhoon Vicente occurred during a high tide accompanied by a mini storm surge, many loose Nurdles were pushed high up into the rocky shores, coastal undergrowth and seawalls in Hong Kong.

These will slowly be flushed out of these locations by rainstorms, high tides and tropical storms and continue to wash up on our beaches in ever decreasing numbers for many months to come.

The following photographs were taken on 6 September 2012 to illustrate the problem.

Sea wall at Nim Shue Wan, Discovery Bay.

Nurdles trapped high in the sea wall at Nim Shue Wan.

Rocks on shoreline at Nim Shue Wan.

Nurdles trapped high in rocks on shoreline at Nim Shue Wan.

Rocks on shoreline at Sam Pak Wan, Discovery Bay.

Nurdles trapped in rocks on shoreline at Sam Pak Wan.

Rocky coastline at Sam Pak Wan.

Pockets of Nurdles at top of high tide line on rocky coastline at Sam Pak Wan.

Plastic Nurdle spill – Missing container

During Typhoon Vicente which hit Hong Kong on 23 July 2012 a container ship near Hong Kong lost 7 x 40 foot containers. Six of these containers were each loaded with 1000 x 25 kilogram bags of Plastic Nurdles (pre-production Plastic Pellets). Five of these containers have since been located, but one is still missing.

During Typhoon Kai Tak which hit Hong Kong on 16 August 2012, 80 full bags of Nurdles and many loose Nurdles washed up on beaches and shores from Mui Wo to Chi Ma Wan. See the photographs below of bags of Nurdles which washed ashore near Shap Long on Chi Ma Wan peninsula (Courtesy of Merrin Pearse at Coordinate4U). This suggests the missing container is possibly on the seabed in the vicinity of Hei Ling Chau. Searches have failed to find it.

If the container still contains part of its cargo, it is possible that full bags and loose Nurdles will leak from the container during future storm events, and these will wash up in the Mui Wo to Chi Ma Wan area. On the other hand, it could be empty by now, in which case there will be no future spills of bags or Nurdles. Irrespective of the containers status, the infrastructure is now in place to quickly and effectively respond to such a spill should it occur.

Bags of Nurdles washed ashore at Chi Ma Wan during Typhoon Kai Tak.

Plastic Nurdle spill – Understanding the science

To understand the science of plastic pellets, the following research papers at Algalita.org give an idea of some of the issues surrounding plastic pellets in the environment, particularly their impact on marine and bird life:

http://www.algalita.org/research/ResearchPapersArchive.html

Also, watch the following YouTube video to see some of the concerns of, and actions taken by the US Government on plastic pellets:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh7CBHxt_Xw

Plastic Nurdle spill – FEHD plastic pellet collection points

On many beaches, FEHD have set up plastic pellet collection points. If you see one of these signs, can you please leave any bags with collected pellets, or other rubbish next to the sign. This will make it easier for FEHD to remove rubbish which has been collected during the cleanups. Please see the photographs below:

Plastic Nurdle spill - Hei Ling Chau, Hong Kong.

The following photographs show potential sites where Plastic Nurdles could have floated ashore on Hei Ling Chau, Hong Kong. This island has restricted access because of the Correctional Services facility which is on the island, so please do not go to this beach:

Plastic Nurdle spill – Video of Peng Chau

The following video shows the main beaches on Peng Chau, (near Discovery Bay), all of which have varying degrees of Nurdles – please note, Tung Wan main beach is under a No-fly zone – it also has Nurdles:

Video of Peng Chau (near Discovery Bay)

http://vimeo.com/47245626

Plastic Nurdle spill – Map of Peng Chau

The following map shows the main beaches on Peng Chau, (near Discovery Bay), all of which have varying degrees of Nurdles. Please note, the main beach on Peng Chau - Tung Wan is a no-fly zone - it also has Nurdles.

Map of Peng Chau showing the beach locations.

Plastic Nurdle spill – the SCMP has failed the people of Hong Kong

If you look at photographs of the vast majority of volunteers who are cleaning the beaches, they are local Chinese residents. This is something that has puzzled us since the start of the cleanup. Where are all the expatriates? What was wrong? Didn’t the expatriate community care! So we started to ask around. We found out that no one knew.  

 “what crisis”, they asked, “there’s nothing in the newspapers”

“wasn’t there something in Discovery Bay a few days ago. Nothing serious.”

When we briefed the Apple Daily Newspaper reporters they were excited. They knew this was something big and they worked hard on it. Their full page release of the story galvanized the community into action. We knew this was the turning point in the crisis. Within two days, thousands of people had volunteered their time and effort to help save Hong Kong.

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) had the same story and effectively did nothing. In fact, the SCMP effectively had a scoop and did nothing. They were one of the first newspapers we contacted because we thought they cared. How mistaken we were! All they’ve tried to do was find fault with the government or fault with SINOPEC, and when they couldn’t get us to say anything bad, they went to their usual network of negative non-entities to get the negative quotes they wanted.

Well, they should be ashamed of themselves. The SCMP cost the cleanup much needed support.

So my question to the editor of the SCMP is this. Will you accept responsibility for this failure, do the honorable thing and resign. Alternatively, if you don’t have the guts to do the honorable thing, will you make a front page apology to the people of Hong Kong in your newspaper? Something along the following lines:

The South China Morning Post would like to apologise.

We did not do our job properly.

We have failed the people of Hong Kong.

We are sorry.

We await your response with interest!

（香港）膠粒污染 – 傳媒在哪裡？

近日有很多對政府處理膠粒污染手法的批評與指控都是不公平及沒事實根據的。

本人、Gary或Tracey都沒有因政府對今次污染危機的應對而感到失望，雖然這是所有傳媒查詢的焦點所在。我們真正感到失望的，是傳媒對調查及報導今次污染事件缺乏興趣，以及他們的焦點只放在如何令政府尷尬。我們曾懇求傳媒報導這次污染危機，但他們並不感興趣。

事件時間表

7月25日 – 在愉景灣發現膠粒污染

7月26日 – 通知南華早報及英文虎報

7月27日 – 南華早報在其不起眼的「城市分頁」報導有關事件

7月28日 – 通知香港各大中、英文媒體，以及國際媒體

國際媒體的回覆 – 沒有興趣報導，除非你能透過此事揭露香港政府或中石化的問題與瘡疤

過了幾日，甚麼壞東西都出來了。

8月8日 – 南華早報的社論 – 對膠粒污染的靜默令人不安

(文章：處理膠粒污染事故欠透明責無旁貸 No excuse for lack of transparency in plastic pellets case)

對南華早報的編輯之要求

編輯先生，你是對的 – 請問你能夠向香港市民解釋為何你選擇靜默嗎？或許你也應該聯絡香港其他的傳媒，尋求他們的解釋。公眾有權知道！

給國際媒體的信息

你們需要改善招聘技巧，因為目前你們的員工並不稱職。

給香港人的信息

問問你自己：怎麼可能出現「隱瞞」呢？傳媒由發現事故的第二日已經清楚知道整個事件！這次事故真正令人失望的是傳媒，因為他們對事實沒有興趣，沒有能力成為具調查力的新聞媒體，也沒有能力發現極具新聞價值的消息，即使一切已經清楚地放在他們眼前。

Plastic Nurdle spill – Video of Chi Ma Wan peninsula

The following video shows the main beaches on the Chi Ma Wan peninsula, all of which have varying degrees of Nurdles, as well as the coastal footpath which connects them. Some of the beaches are only accessible by boat. If you go by boat and see the beach already has a cleanup crew in action, can you try to chose an empty beach.

The following are named beaches:

1. Tai Long Wan

2. Ha Keng

9. Cheung Sha Wan

12. Shap Long

Please check out the video at the following link:

http://vimeo.com/47258448

Plastic Nurdle spill – Chi Ma Wan peninsula

The following graphic shows the main beaches on the Chi Ma Wan peninsula, all of which have varying degrees of Nurdles. Some of the beaches are only accessible by boat. If you go by boat and see a beach already has a cleanup crew in action, can you try to chose an empty beach.

The following are named beaches:

1. Tai Long Wan

2. Ha Keng

9. Cheung Sha Wan

12. Shap Long

Map of Chi Ma Wan peninsula showing the beach locations

Plastic Nurdle spill – Hong Kong – Cleanup sectors.

To better coordinate the cleanup of the spill of Plastic Nurdles, and try to ensure no effort is duplicated or wasted, Hong Kong has been divided up into different sectors, with an NGO or Green Group responsible for the monitoring and cleanup of their own area.

The groups will try to post information of cleanups on their own websites, with a link to the “Plastic Disaster – Hong Kong” Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/PlasticDisasterHongKong?filter=1

Volunteers can go to any cleanups they want to, but we will try to highlight hotspots for urgent action. See the map below:

Plastic Nurdle spill – Hong Kong – where were the press?

There has been much criticism of the government for their handling of the spill of Plastic Nurdles, much of it unfair and unfounded.

Neither Gary, Tracey or myself are unhappy with the Government’s response to this crisis, even though this is one of the main angles of all press queries. The people we are really disappointed with are the press, for their lack of interest in investigating and reporting the incident and their sole interest in trying to embarrass the Government. We pleaded with the press to report on what we told them was a crisis and they weren’t interested.

Time table of events

25 July – the spill was discovered in Discovery Bay.

26 July – SCMP and HK Standard were notified.

27 July – report on the incident appears in the SCMP, hidden away in the City Section of the SCMP.

28 July – release to both English and Chinese press in Hong Kong, as well as international press.

Response from the international press – Not an interesting story for us, unless you can get dirt on the Government or SINOPEC.

A few days later, all hell breaks loose.

8 August – Editorial in SCMP – Silence on plastic pellets bred unease.

Request to the editor of the SCMP

Well Mr. Editor, you are right – can you please explain to the public of Hong Kong the reasons for your silence. Perhaps you could contact the editors of the other papers in Hong Kong as well and seek their explanations – the public have a right to know!

Message to the international press

You need to improve your hiring techniques, because at the moment your staff are not up to the job.

Message to everyone in Hong Kong

Ask yourself this - How can there be a cover up, when the press were fully in the picture from Day 2 of the discovery – the real people who have failed Hong Kong are the press, because they are not interested in facts, they are not capable of investigative journalism and they are incapable of recognizing a scoop, even when it is handed to them on a plate.

Plastic Nurdle spill – Hong Kong – location map showing where the containers were found.

This map shows the locations of where the missing containers were recovered, together with details of the completeness of their loads.

It is now apparent that the large spill at Tung O Wan on Lamma came from the container found in the north of the bay (INKH 6293926). A door of this container was located in the sea next to the spill.

This now gives a clearer picture of  where resources should be deployed to locate remaining Nurdle hotspots (Courtesy: Gary Stokes).

Plastic Nurdle Spill – Trawling for Nurdles on 7 August 2012

The following photographs show the results of spending 10 minutes trawling for Nurdles through small debris patches on the surface of the sea in Nim Shue Wan Bay, Lantau on 7 August 2012 using a Koi net deployed from a sampan (the mesh of the Koi net is small enough to catch Nurdles). No visible sea life was caught during this trawl.

Debris patch on surface of the sea.

Nurdles floating in debris patch.

Koi net

Koi net deployed from very slow moving sampan.

 Nurdles and other debris collected after 10 minutes.

Plastic Nurdle spill – Adopt a beach – become a beach guardian.

Hong Kong desperately needs your help to identify beaches with Plastic Nurdles and also beaches that have no Nurdles, so that resources can be sent to beaches that need help.

When you visit a beach, if you see any Nurdles, can you please take some photographs and post them on the “Plastic Disaster – Hong Kong” Facebook page (see link below), together with the location of the beach and an estimate of how big the problem is. Also check the beach for any bags of Nurdles and if you find any, move the bag to above the high tide line and again, please post photographs on the Facebook page.

Adopt a beach - become a beach guardian

If you live near a beach, can you become responsible for reporting any Nurdle sightings at that beach and also for organizing cleanups at the beach – adopt the beach and become a beach guardian – just please keep “Plastic Disaster – Hong Kong” informed of what you are doing by posting on their Facebook page.  

Plastic Disaster - Hong Kong

http://www.facebook.com/PlasticDisasterHongKong

Plastic Nurdle spill – Nurdles at Tung O Bay, Lamma Island, Hong Kong on 1 August 2012.

The following photographs are of Plastic Nurdles found on 1 August 2012 at Tung O Bay, Lamma Island, Hong Kong (Courtesy: Gary Stokes and Tracey Read). The Nurdles came from one of six containers containing Nurdles which were lost from a container ship during Typhoon Vicente:

Plastic Nurdle spill – container at Beaufort Island, Hong Kong on 31 July 2012.

The following photographs are of a container which had been carrying 1000 x 25 kilogram bags of Nurdles, with its spilled contents, found on 31 July 2012 at Beaufort Island, Hong Kong (Courtesy: Tracey Read). The container was lost from a container ship during Typhoon Vicente:

The white objects along the shoreline in the photograph below are loose spilled Nurdles.