Donal Hickey: 'Plastic soup' is a recipe for disaster for seabirds

Some 44% of seabird species are known to eat plastic, mistaking it for prey. Some species are particularly badly affected, causing malnutrition and new diseases like plasticosis

Plastic left to float in seawater turns it cloudy, a study suggests. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA

People on beaches during the summer will surely notice a high level of plastic waste, some of which is going to be swept out on the next tide — fragments of fishing gear, straws, shopping bags, bottles, cups, plates and used nappies, to mention just some examples.

Globally, experts believe around 100,000 turtles, whales, dolphins and seals are killed annually by marine waste, including plastic. In Ireland, the overall plastics recycling rate is only 33%... and you wonder where the other two-thirds ends up.