RAYONG — A large amount of rubbish and traces of a slimy slick caused by plankton washed ashore on Mae Ram Phueng Beach on Wednesday.
Fertiliser bags, plastic bags and glass bottles were among the trash scattered along Lan Hin Khao, a beautiful viewpoint on the popular tourist beach in Muang Rayong district. It spread for a distance of about one kilometre.
The garbage was found along with a black slick said to have been caused by a plankton bloom phenomenon. Villagers spotted the rubbish in the afternoon and alerted authorities.
Rayong governor Somsak Suwansudjarit said officials from Ban Phe municipality and other agencies are cleaning the beach and will try to restore its condition to normal before the five-day long weekend starts on Friday.
An investigation is underway to find the people responsible for dumping the trash into the sea.
Local fishermen say they often see rubbish-filled fertiliser bags or black bags filled with rubbish while at sea. They say the bags get ripped and spill refuse all over the water.
Sumate Saithong, chief of the Khao Laem Ya-Samet Isles national park, said his agency will collect any trash that remains under the water along Mae Ram Phueng Beach on Thursday and try to finish the work before the five-day holiday.
A plankton bloom occurs when an unusually high amount of cold current flows into coastal areas. The cold current is usually full of nutrients that make plankton grow rapidly. A plankton bloom leads to a sharp drop of oxygen dissolvent to a level that is too low for marine life to survive.
It's not the first time that Mae Ram Phueng beach has been marred by rubbish washed in from the sea.
In September, tens of thousands of empty fertiliser and animal-feed bags were found along 5 kilometres of the beach.
