More than 30 volunteers joined a D&G Eco Warriors beach clean to tidy up a scenic shoreline near Kirkcudbright last Sunday.
Local families, holidaymakers and Rotarians gathered waste plastic into piles above the strand line at Barlocco Bay.
The environmental hit squad found huge amounts of plastic debris had washed up in recent storms – giving an idea of just how much the oceans are being polluted.
So much was collected that one possibility being investigated is the use of helicopters to air lift bags to a more convenient place to transfer material into skips.
Solway Marine Litter Project coordinator Nic Coombey said: “The Solway Firth Partnership is delighted to have been able to assist D&G Eco Warriors who have joined forces with local farmers to find solutions for cleaning the difficult to access beach at Barlocco Bay.
“It is wonderful to see so many volunteers taking positive action to achieve the ambition to have more than 200 miles of cleaner coastline in Dumfries and Galloway.”
Mr Coombey highlighted the often mistaken assumption that debris has originated from commercial fisheries when in actual fact evidence suggests that most waste ends up in the sea as a result of being washed down in burns and rivers.
He said: “It is true that some of the larger items on the shore have been lost by fishermen.
“But on closer inspection there are drinks bottles, food wrappers and other single use items that have broken down into smaller plastic pieces.”
