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Help fish, stop plastic pollution - 5th December 2019

The island of Zakynthos is famous for its fabulous beaches and clean sea. But even here plastic pollution poses a serious threat to wildlife, including fish and turtles.

Volunteers from around the world have come to Zakynthos to help the organisation Aegean Rebreath to protect the biodiversity of the area. After just three hours they have collected four tyres, two shopping carts, a street lamp, metal boxes, plastic bags, plastic bottles and several kilometres of fishing line.

Biologists at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research in Athens say they have found plastic in 20-45 percent of all the fish species tested. Plastic is also present in 75 percent of the turtles tested.

George Triantaphyllidis, from the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, believes as individuals we must change our use of plastics.

George Triantaphyllidis: "I believe that everybody should change its habits. So, we don’t have to use the single-use plastics in our daily life. We have to do a small revolution inside ourselves first."