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| a happy pirate |
I used to think that Sea Shepherd was a rather dodgy organisation with their sinister logo and reports of scuttling whaling vessels and destroying drift nets at sea. Sea Shepherd claims that their aggressive actions are necessary as the international community has shown itself unwilling or unable to stop species-endangering whaling and fishing practices.
Earlier this year Sea Shepherd Australia launched a dedicated campaign to combat the growing tide of marine debris in the world’s oceans and waterways. This debris injures and kills sea birds and marine animals through entanglement, suffocation and ingestion. Andy is an onshore co-ordinator for the Sydney Chapter of Sea Shepherd and today we joined him for a beach clean up at Little Manly Beach.
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| Andy and his fellow pirates preparing to dive for treasure |
The beach was busy with families enjoying the warm weather. We donned our ninja gloves and joined about fifteen other volunteers picking up every conceivable type of litter - wrappers, cans, bottles, plastic straws,etc. One little girl was very curious about our activities and after her mother had explained that we were good pirates she waved and called out "Happy pirates' day!"
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| some of the rubbish gathered today |
Too much rubbish.
ReplyDeleteI always get angry when I see litter spoiling our planet.
DeleteJob well done. Do you think much of the refuse in the ocean is from garbage barges? -Jenn
ReplyDeleteYes, from garbage barges, ships, fishing lines/nets, oil rigs, etc. But over half is land-based coming from water run-off, storm drains, wind borne and people who litter the beaches.
DeleteIt really is amazing just what gets washed up - thank goodness for people dedicated to clearing it all up - you have earned your Girl Guide badge for beach clearing, well done.
ReplyDeleteEvery little helps I guess. There is a bronze statue in Kiama, the town we visited last week, of a pelican. It is a memorial to the pelican that died after swallowing a plastic carrier bag.
DeleteIn the days when I used to regularly take cross channel ferries, I was horrified seeing all the ship's detritus being tipped overboard. The sea bed between Dover and Calais must be thick with bottles.
ReplyDeletePlastic is one of the biggest problems, there is a whole ocean of that stuff being ingested by marine life.
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