Nearly 12,000 pieces of marine debris – including more than 6,000 cigarette butts – has been collected and removed from South Beach, Fremantle in WA in a family friendly beach clean-up event organised by Sea Shepherd Australia over the weekend.
Over 90 volunteer participants, including members of the Perth community and the local chapter of Sea Shepherd, were involved in the clean up of the coastal and parkland areas of South Beach.
The event was advertised on New Matilda (courtesy of reader John Aliferis), as part of our ongoing offer where subscribers can choose a not for profit or Aboriginal business to receive free New Matilda advertising.
In total 11,709 pieces of marine debris weighing 115kg was collected, sorted and recorded for inclusion in the Australian Marine Debris Initiative, coordinated by Tangaroa Blue Foundation.
Smokers proved to be the dirtiest of littering bastards – over 6,000 cigarette butts were removed, in addition to 2,758 items of plastic including plastic bags, drink bottles and food packaging, and 1,223 articles of paper and cardboard.
Since the start of 2015, volunteers from Sea Shepherd’s Perth Chapter have conducted monthly beach clean-ups along the Fremantle and Cockburn coasts removing over 26,000 items, mostly plastic, from entering the marine environment.
Sea Shepherd Australia’s South Beach clean-up, organised in collaboration with Tangaroa Blue Foundation, was held in support of Plastic Free July, a local Perth environmental initiative which raises awareness of the amount of single-use disposable plastic.
About Sea Shepherd Australia
Sea Shepherd Australia is a non-profit conservation organisation whose mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species. New Matilda is a very proud supporter of the organisation.
Sea Shepherd Australia uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas.
By safeguarding the biodiversity of our delicately balanced oceanic ecosystems, Sea Shepherd Australia works to ensure their survival for future generations. You can fid out more about their excellent work here.
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