I felt quite distressed and saddened.

Over many years of living part-time in Nelson Bay, I have been aware of the presence of one such penguin in the bay.

Sometimes it would swim around the boats at d'Albora Marinas and sometimes off the sea wall at Nelson Bay.

It was always alone.

It swam incredibly fast, darting off, always in such a hurry, to chase a catch.

I christened the little creature Patch.

I would often hear its call as I walked along the Bridle Path going towards Dutchies Beach.

I would not be surprised if this beautiful little penguin had died after ingesting plastic.

Our marine creatures are being devastated by our lack of concern for the environment.

Plastic and fishing lines are one of the biggest threats to marine life.

I walk along the wall every day and every day I pick up pieces of discarded fishing line.

Even though the council (to its credit) has placed canisters along the wall for the purpose of disposal of fishing line responsibly, fisherman still discard it without any care or concern of the consequences.

Anything plastic that enters the waterways can cause harm to our sea creatures.

Turtles sometimes ingest plastic bags because they think it is a jellyfish or they get wrapped up in fishing lines. They die a slow and painful death.

Plastic bottle tops, empty fish bait packets, plastic bags and plastic paddlepop sticks all play a part in harming the marine environment, not only from an aesthetic aspect but also because of the danger that it creates for our marine life.

I urge everyone to be more careful when disposing of their rubbish.

Dumping it or dropping it is careless, thoughtless and irresponsible.

Take care of our little creatures that can't defend themselves against what we are doing with waste and rubbish.

Diana Wilson

Nelson Bay, NSW