Beads wash-up on Mount Main Beach

The beads found on the Mount Beach.

They're small tiny bits of plastic that get washed up the beach.

They have been washing up on Mount Main Beach since the Rena struck Astrolabe Reef on October 5, 2011 - and they are back again.

During the recovery period following the grounding, one of two containers of beads was found to be partially damaged.

Stormy conditions at the time meant some of the beads on the Rena were dislodged into the sea. Read more here.

Mount Maunganui resident Ryan Fellingham recently found the bits of plastic resting in debris at the high tide line along the Mount Beach.

'There were millions of them scattered all the way along from the Mount to Papamoa. They were there two weeks ago and they were still there last weekend.”

Ryan says he has contacted Tauranga City Council and they had a man go down the beach to analyse samples.

'All we need is some people with shovels – there's only one way to get rid of them. All the people who live around here love the beach and all that, but these microbeads are still here.

'We are supposed to live in the beautiful Bay of Plenty, but no one seems to care about the rubbish on the beach. We all just need to chip in.”

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