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Southern Water is currently investigating after millions of contaminated plastic beads appeared on Camber Sands beach, raising worries of a potential "environmental catastrophe".

The plastic pellets could have a dire impact on ocean creatures, according to a regional representative, with concerns that rare sea life, including coastal birds, porpoises, and marine mammals, might consume them and perish.

The area's representative believes the beads may have been spilled from a local filtration facility and has sent a letter to the water company's chief executive, requesting an explanation.

Camber Sands, situated in East Sussex, is a highly popular shoreline, known for rare dune habitat and expansive areas of fine grains.

Local helpers have been working urgently to clear the pellets, filling dozens of bags with the synthetic debris, but the scale of the contamination event is vast, and it is improbable they will be able to clear every piece.

An expert from a plastic pollution campaign group remarked over the weekend, "This is the worst pollution event I have ever seen. It is polluted polymer. Marine animals will ingest small plastic items once they are in the ocean; they will attract algae, they will smell like food, effectively."

"After ingestion, there's no turning back: they cannot expel it. They will remain buoyant. It will form a layer which draws in plunging seabirds."

He added that the clean-up efforts have been draining. "Yesterday, I was out there cleaning it up. We are trying to really piece together the sequence of events and the details for this devastating incident. It’s awful."

"The pellets are minuscule that from a a distance, the beach appears unaffected. But as soon as you approach closely, you see there are millions black pellets, hidden among marine plants. It’s an impossible task – volunteers have been working tirelessly, and they will keep at it, but we cannot remove every pellet. It is the worst I have ever seen of a contaminated shoreline."

The elected official, who joined the clean-up efforts, remarked, "The immense quantity of polymer pellets that have appeared on this shore risks an environmental catastrophe. These biobeads are lethal to ocean and land animals, and we are observing increased mortality among marine species on the beach."

"Community members are working tirelessly to clear away as many pellets as possible, but it’s a race against time. Southern Water must quickly determine if their nearby treatment facilities could be the origin of these biobeads, and I’ve requested to commit every possible asset to supporting the clean-up operation in the interim."

The beads are additionally hazardous to canines as they contain a high number of PAHs, which are known to have cancer-causing traits, and they often contain harmful substances such as heavy metals, antimony, and bromine.

A spokesperson for the water company said, "We are collaborating with the Environment Agency and local council to look into the cause of polymer pellets which have washed up on the shoreline. This investigation work is ongoing."

"Local officials is leading the clean-up of the beach, using specialists with a vehicle with suction equipment to extract the pellets. We are additionally assisting with the removal process."

"We have performed environmental testing on the beach, which has revealed no effect to environmental water quality. These results has been shared with the district council and the regulatory body."

The Environment Agency has been reached out to for comment.