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Southern Water is conducting an inquiry after millions of polluted polymer pellets were found on the shoreline at Camber, raising worries of a possible "ecological disaster".

The plastic pellets could have a dire impact on ocean creatures, as stated by a regional representative, with apprehensions that rare sea life, such as seabirds, porpoises, and marine mammals, might ingest them and perish.

A local official suspects the pellets may have been spilled from a local filtration facility and has written to the water company's chief executive, requesting an explanation.

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

Volunteers have been working urgently to clear the beads, collecting dozens of bags with the plastic waste, but the scale of the pollution spill is vast, and it is improbable they will be able to remove all of them.

A representative from a plastic pollution campaign group commented over the weekend, "This represents the most severe contamination incident I have ever seen. It is contaminated plastic. Sea creatures will ingest small plastic items once they are in the ocean; they will draw in microorganisms, they will appear edible, in essence."

"Once they’ve eaten it, there's no turning back: they cannot expel it. They will float on the surface. It will form a layer which draws in plunging seabirds."

He added that the removal work have been exhausting. "Yesterday, I was on site removing the debris. We are trying to accurately reconstruct the sequence of events and the details for this horrendous event. It’s terrible."

"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 unachievable mission – volunteers have been raking for days, and they will continue to rake, but we won’t be able to get rid of them all. It is the worst I have ever encountered of a polluted beach."

The local MP, who participated in the clean-up efforts, stated, "The immense quantity of polymer pellets that have appeared on this shore risks an ecological disaster. These biobeads are deadly to ocean and land animals, and we are observing increased mortality among marine species on the coast."

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

The beads are additionally hazardous to dogs as they contain a significant amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are known to have cancer-causing traits, and they often contain harmful substances including heavy metals, metalloids, and bromine.

A spokesperson for the water company stated, "We are collaborating with the regulatory body and district authorities to look into the source of plastic beads which have been deposited on the shoreline. This investigation work is ongoing."

"Local officials is leading the clean-up of the beach, using specialists with a specialized machinery to remove the beads. We are also supporting with the removal process."

"We have performed environmental testing on the beach, which has revealed no effect to the aquatic environment. This data has been provided with the local authorities and the regulatory body."

Regulatory officials has been contacted for comment.