Littering is spoiling Oman's beaches, say environmentalists

Muscat: Littering on Omani beaches is getting worse and environmentalists say the rubbish left behind is harming marine life and has hurt the Sultanate’s drive to attract tourists.
From cigarette butts and plastic bottles to barbecue remnants, the beaches in the country are fast becoming an eyesore. On top of the list of rubbish on the white sands are fizzy drink cans, fragmented bricks and food wrappers.
“Plastic is most harmful to marine life. The high tide carries the bags to the sea and the fish confuse them to food. The plastic becomes a knot in the fish’s guts and they die. We even see dead turtles at Ras Al Hadd after they have been tangled up in plastic. These turtles are rare and this is all because of the negligence of beach users,” Khalid Al Saadi, an environmentalist told the Times of Oman (TOO).
Other environmentalists said littering is also harming the tourism industry that the country is working so hard to develop.
“Beaches must be clean, not just for the local residents to enjoy, but for our tourists. Foreign visitors pay a lot of money to come here and the last thing they want is a beach full of rubbish. The government is paying a lot of money to promote tourism and that effort should not go to waste,” Shaikha Al Balushi, another environmentalist, said.
Regular beach goers are ‘disgusted’ with the garbage thrown on the beaches and have urged everyone to be responsible.
“Sometimes you go to the beach and there is this disgusting smell of rotten meat from food left behind by people, who had a party on the beach the other night. They don’t even have the decency of clearing their rubbish before they go home,” Khalil Al Shikaili, a resident of Al Hail, told TOO.
Nature lovers said beach littering is destroying Oman’s wildlife, and is an eyesore for avid photographers.
“The beaches attract migratory birds and what they eat there can be harmful for them. Sea creatures, such as crabs and turtles and beautiful red foxes, who roam in the night looking for food, are also victims of littering. We are destroying them just because we are too lazy to pick up our rubbish. I like to take photos of the beaches and sometimes I cannot do it because it is not exactly photogenic to take a shot of a beach full of rubbish,” John Harolds, a British resident in Qurum, said.