Louise Gray, The Telegraph 9 Sep 08;
The Prince of Wales has spoken of his deep concern for the threat posed to marine wildlife by Britain's "throwaway culture" that is dumping plastic bags and other litter at sea.
In a speech to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Marine Conservation Society, the Prince pledged his support for the new marine reserves being set up by the Scottish and UK governments and moves to prevent over fishing.
However he said litter continues to be a massive problem for ocean life. Rare creatures like the leatherback turtle, the alabatross and countless seabirds are killed by ingesting plastic bags and the Prince was shown the remnants of plastic found in the stomach of a dead leatherback turtle.
"It is an eyesore on the beaches, but at sea, largely out of sight and thus out of mind, the remnants of our throwaway society are causing incalculable suffering to turtles, whales and seabirds," he said.
The Prince praised the MSC for organising beach cleans and campaigning to reduce the amount of rubbish dumped in the sea.
"Albatrosses, those magnificent and magical birds, are being found dead with their stomachs almost full to bursting with plastic litter of all kinds - and that is when they haven't actually been drowned by long-line fishing hooks," he continued.
"Here, in Britain, our largest native breeding seabird, the gannet, is equally threatened - over 90 per cent of the nests at Grassholm Island contain plastic debris which entangles the feet, wings and sometimes the beak of the chicks.
"And our largest marine reptile, the magnificent leatherback turtle is particularly susceptible - their favourite food is jellyfish, which bears a striking similarity to a floating plastic bag - a bag that can block their gut and so they starve to death," he said.
"We simply cannot continue to treat the oceans in this way. How can we talk about sustainability and stewardship when we are allowing this to happen?"
The Prince's comments came as Sainsbury's announced moves to limit the use of carrier bags.
From next month, shoppers will no longer be able to help themselves to the store's dintinctive orange bags. Instead they will be kep under the counter and only given out on demand.
