MARSA ALAM'S DIRTY SECRET. Plastic bags breakdown in approxmiately 50 years and plastic bottles in 150 years. Worldwide one million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals die of plastic ingestion each year.
1 November 2010
It's ironic that tourists arrive in the hope of enjoying one of the world's last remaining unspoilt coasts and reefs, only to be confronted by a bleak panorama of junk and litter. The photographs below were taken outside a resort in Marsa Alam.
Tourists have the right to enjoy views of the sea unhampered by the piles of trash accumulating near the north wall of this hotel and, worse, this eyesore poses a potential threat to the environment.
Below: you will see a series of photographs of garbage and rusting barrels lying near the sea shore just outside a four star resort. They were taken over a period of several months between 2009 and 2010. *
APRIL 2011 UPDATE
I visited the site again in April 2011 and while some areas such as the ground close to the northern entrance and along the shore near the marina were greatly improved (although I wasn't able to inspect the reef closely), other areas just outside the north wall were still strewn with garbage and continued to present a potential serious threat to the environment. See April 2011 update photographs.
*I am clearly not making any suggestion about who might be to blame for the dumping. Hopefully the Environment Ministry or other appropriate government authority can investigate and visit the site and draw their own conclusions as to whom may be responsible from the photographic evidence and any evidence they may find on site and interviews of any potential witnesses.
·Below: Near the north beach entrance to the hotel. This area, the one in the photo below and some others were subsequently cleared up but as of April 2011 other areas near the north wall still had large accumulations of rubbish.
It's time for a shoreline cleanup !
Whoever is responsible,* a cleanup is certainly an urgent priority. Much of the rubbish, including plastic, electrical, metal and glass, poses a possible hazard to the coral reef.
*I am clearly not making any suggestion about who might be to blame for the dumping. Hopefully the Environment Ministry or other appropriate government authority can investigate and visit the site and draw their own conclusions as to whom may be responsible from the photographic evidence and any evidence they may find on site and interviews of any potential witnesses.
Rusting barrel lying next to the northern beach entrance to the resort. Subsequently removed but other areas still suffered badly from garbage accumulation when I visited the site again in April 2011.
Photograph below: More garbage lying close to the north wall of the resort.
If any of this rubbish blows into the sea which seems very likely given its' close proximity to the shoreline and the frequent high winds in the area, it could have a devestating effect. When plastic film and other debris settle on the sea bottom, it can suffocate immobile plants and animals. In other areas debris can wrap around living coral, smothering the animals and breaking up their coralline structures.
If a turtle encounters a plastic bag, which looks similar to jellyfish, he may swallow
the plastic bag and choke on it. 
\Coral reefs need out protection. They are often called "rain forests of the ocean" because they are home to such a rich diversity of marine life such as reef fish, turtles, sharks, lobsters, anemones and sponges. The world's seas feed us and sustain us. Most of the oxygen we breath is generated by them. They also soke up CO2 and as such it is essential to preserve them if we are to prevent irreversable and catastrophic climate change.
Does anyone know what this barrel might have contained ? If so please use the contact us link.
In several pictures you can see what appear to be plastic bottles and other items of plastic.
Source: http://blog.sustainablog.org/artwork-from-trash-transforming-the-way-we-see-waste-and-the-disappearing-reefs/
It is also likely that plastic is contaminating the fish we eat.
The presence of any person in any of these photographs should not be taken to suggest that they are doing anythng illegal or wrong. You should not infer anything from such photographs other than as evidence of the prevalence of rubbish in the area at the time. Any speculation as to who may be responsible is a matter for the appropriate government authorities after a thorough investigation of the site.
Below: A hotel security guard approaching.
He was polite and friendly but he may have been wondering
why someone should be photographing garbage.
Rusting metallic object shown above and below was subsequently removed but at the time of the photograph may have posed a risk to the environment.
Photograph
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