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Southern Water is currently investigating after a vast number of contaminated plastic beads were found on Camber Sands beach, raising worries of a potential "ecological disaster".

These biobeads could have a dire impact on ocean creatures, according to a regional representative, with apprehensions that rare sea life, such as seabirds, porpoises, and seals, might ingest them and perish.

A local official believes the beads may have been released from a local filtration facility and has written to the top official, demanding an account.

Camber Sands, located in East Sussex, is a highly popular shoreline, known for unique sandy ecosystems and expansive areas of fine grains.

Volunteers have been racing against time to remove the pellets, filling dozens of bags with the synthetic debris, but the scale of the contamination event is vast, and it is unlikely they will be able to remove all of them.

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

"After ingestion, there's no turning back: they can’t get it out. They will remain buoyant. It will form a layer which attracts plunging seabirds."

He added that the removal work have been draining. "Recently, I was on site removing the debris. We are trying to really piece together the timeline and the story for this horrendous event. It’s terrible."

"The pellets are minuscule that from a very long way off, the beach looks normal. But as soon as you get close up, you see there are millions dark beads, hidden among marine plants. It’s an unachievable mission – volunteers have been working tirelessly, and they will continue to rake, but we won’t be able to get rid of them all. It is the most severe I have ever seen of a polluted beach."

The elected official, who participated in the clean-up efforts, remarked, "The huge number of plastic beads that have washed up here risks an environmental catastrophe. These biobeads are lethal to marine life and wildlife, and we are already seeing increased mortality among marine species on the coast."

"Community members are working tirelessly to remove as many pellets as possible, but it’s a race against time. Southern Water must quickly determine if their local wastewater plants could be the source of these biobeads, and I’ve asked them to dedicate all available resources to supporting the clean-up operation in the interim."

These pellets are additionally hazardous to dogs as they hold a high number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are known to have cancer-causing traits, and they often contain toxins including heavy metals, metalloids, and bromine.

An official representative for the water company said, "We are collaborating with the Environment Agency and district authorities to investigate the cause of polymer pellets which have washed up on Camber Beach. This investigation work is still in progress."

"Local officials is leading the clean-up of the shore, using trained personnel with a vehicle with suction equipment to remove the beads. We are additionally assisting with the removal process."

"We’ve conducted water-quality sampling on the beach, which has shown no impact to environmental water quality. These results has been provided with the district council and the Environment Agency."

The Environment Agency has been contacted for comment.