We have just had a few days break from winter with a few spring like days, and the first signs of the coming spring are there if you look.

However, I came across some news on the same day as this picture was taken which provides food for thought.

How would you feel if your favourite restaurant served you a bowl of plastic soup in place of the fish special?

Most likely disgusted. You would send it back and probably stop frequenting that restaurant.

For a large part of the natural world, which is often forgotten by us, that is not possible.

Our seas are literally swimming in plastic. Its every where and no part of our beautiful planet is immune to it any more.

The news on the 2nd of February contained a story about a distressed whale found of the coast of Norway, which had to be put down. On examination of its stomach contents a vast quantity of plastic was found including 30 plastic sacks/bags.

Most of the plastic apparently came from Denmark and England. The stomach contents where responsible for the animals poor condition.

The story was well publicised and you will easily find it with an internet search, One report in the mail online also quoted some statistics about plastic in our oceans. Currently an estimate of 5 trillion pieces, and by 2050 , more plastic than fish in our oceans.

In Europe alone 100 billion carrier bags are used every year of which 8 billion end up as litter.

Sadly the same internet search is likely to come up with details of other similar incidents throughout the world."whales are starving their 'stomachs full of plastic waste '' by Philip Hoare is illuminating (www.theguardian.com/comment is free/2016/march/30/plastic.

Another source of information is found at ( www.oceanwildthings.com )

This again is an example of an epic exponential problem, but it is one in which some pending initiatives provide a glimmer of hope (for example www.theoceancleanup.com).

It is certainly an area in which a lot more resources need to be invested, and one that is ripe for one or more wealthy benefactors to leave our planet a lasting meaning full legacy.

Our Oceans have become a dumping ground for all sorts of waste products from our civilisation. Out of sight and out of mind has been our motto for too long.

When I see photos of the array of plastic turning up in whale stomachs, I am left wondering how some of these bags could possibly find their way into the ocean, unless somehow there hss been a deliberate dumping.

From sewage to radioactive waste , chemical waste and alarmingly old chemical warfare munitions, an awful lot of dumping has been going on for many years. Unsurprisingly this is affecting the oceans food chains, and inevitably us.

We have treated our seas poorly, and proved ourselves to be unworthy guardians to date.

In case you do not think the problem will not effect you, you should be aware that plastic particles, are turning up in the most unlikely places throughout our living biosphere. On plants, and flowers, in the honey you eat, and in the water you drink , circulating in our air.

Some totally irresponsible cosmetics companies have even deliberately been filling products with tiny plastic particles or beads, which inevitably pass into our water systems and our oceans. How that could have ever have seemed a good idea is hard to understand.

So what can you do right now? Just by being aware how damaging a substance plastic can be, is a start . Look around you at its unnecessary use, try to use it responsibly. Recycle it where possible.

Boycott products that are harmful (such as the cosmetic washing products that contain unnecessary plastic ). After all why should you support a company that has no regard for the living quality of your home?

If your walking by the beach, or anywhere else for that matter , why not collect up all the plastic you see and dispose of it safely. It doesent cost a lot, and every little bit ofhelps.

Going back to the reference to plastic soup, be aware that the food you eat and the water you drink may well already contain plastic traces. In effect you could be eating it now.

What goes around, comes around in a world of interconnectivity.