'Fin the Fish' to stay in Scarborough for the festive season

Fin the Fish will be staying at home in Scarborough for the festive season, after holidaying in Hull last winter.

Author: Karen LiuPublished 17th Dec 2020

After holidaying in Hull last winter Fin the Fish will be staying at home in Scarborough for the festive season.

Developed in partnership with Yorkshire Water, Scarborough Borough Council and the University of Hull, Fin the Fish is a ‘fintasic’ sculpture which is designed to encourage the public to recycle their single use plastics to help keep beaches clean.

They say every year 12 million tonnes of plastic waste are dumped into our seas and oceans, with it being estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish, making the battle against marine pollution more important than ever.

Having first becoming a landmark at Scarborough South Bay in the summer of 2019 Fin the Fish collected more than 6,000 plastic bottles for recycling in just eight weeks.

While Fin loves his summer stays at Scarborough’s South Bay, the winter months can see the bay face some quite dramatic wave overtopping meaning that Fin must be relocated for his own safety.

This year Yorkshire Water, in partnership with Scarborough Borough Council, have relocated Fin to spend his winter break at SEA LIFE Scarborough with the hope of encouraging local residents and visitors to the Yorkshire Coast to #feedfin their plastic waste.

Leah Humphries, Coastal Manager at Yorkshire Water, said:

“Fin the Fish has been a great success since he arrived in Scarborough in summer 2019 and has become something of a local celebrity.

“He’s now been moved to his winter home at SEA LIFE Scarborough and we hope he will continue to encourage local people and visitors to recycle their plastics.”

Every year the animal care team at SEA LIFE Scarborough attend to seals which have been injured or entangled by plastic pollution, all of which could be avoided if people simply put their plastics in a bin.

Todd German, curator at SEA LIFE Scarborough, said:

“We are delighted to offer Fin The Fish a place to stay for his winter break as we see first-hand how marine plastics can injure and affect the beautiful marine life across the Yorkshire Coast and we’re hoping that the public will “Do Your Bit” and #feedfin their plastic waste when visiting or passing by the centre this Christmas.”

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