Walker finds tranquil Taroona beach littered with plastic

A morning walk has left one local scratching her head after finding minuscule polystyrene balls strewn across the entire length of a usually pristine beach.

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A MORNING walk has left one Taroona woman scratching her head after finding tiny polystyrene balls strewn across the entire length of a usually pristine beach.

Heidi White said she was disappointed to see the debris stretch down her local Taroona Beach.

“I was going for a nice walk to get some fresh air and started to notice the beach was looking quite polluted today,” she said.

Heidi White at Taroona Beach where she discovered a lot of polystyrene balls have washed ashore. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

Ms White said she then recalled seeing a recent post in the Taroona Good Karma Network Facebook group mentioning beach pollution.

“I had a look back through and found someone had posted about a week ago and notified the council,” she said.

“It looks like the residents were concerned that it’s quite difficult to clean styrofoam because it’s all these little balls, it’s not in large pieces.

“Im not really sure what the council would do and how they could remove it.”

Heidi White at Taroona Beach where she discovered a lot of polystyrene balls have washed ashore. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

Ms White said she assumed the debris had washed up when she saw the remnants at the high tide mark, but said someone online suggested the balls had arrived via the drains.

She said she hoped those responsible would educate themselves on the consequences of pollution in waterways to prevent similar incidents.

“You read about little krill and things in the Antarctic that have plastics in their bodies,” she said.

Kingborough Mayor Dean Winter said the incident will be investigated.