Researchers call a mulligan in their search for signs of a prehistoric loch beast.
By David DeFranza
Washington, DC, USA | Wed Nov 11 12:45:00 GMT 2009
When Scottish scientists boarded their submersible and dove into the depths of Loch Ness, they were hoping to find evidence of a prehistoric creature along the loch floor. Instead, what they discovered were golf balls; hundreds of thousands of them.
The discovery illustrates an alarming report released from the Danish Golf Union showing that golf balls may take between 100 and 1,000 years to decompose in the wild. And decomposition is not a clean process. As the balls break down, they release toxins and heavy metals into the environment. The study shows that zinc, in particular, has the potential to cause problems because it attaches itself to sediments and poisons surrounding plants and animals.
Torben Kastrup Petersen, the course manager for the Danish Golf Union, explained that the true scale of the golf ball litter problem is not known:
There has been very little research on the environmental impact of golf balls, but it's safe to say the indicators are not good. We are planning to collaborate with environmentalists in America to conduct more tests to fully explore the extent of the problem.
What is known is that the problem extends around the world and even to the moon. In 1971, Alan Shepherd set up an impromptu driving range on the moon. Though his out-of-bounds golfing had little impact there—it is thought that the moon's intense temperatures would disintegrate a plastic golf ball quickly—this is not the case with detritus of renegade duffers here on Earth.
more:
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/travel-outdoors/loch-ness-golf-balls.html
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