Marine debris can lead to the loss of biodiversity, loss of ecosystem functions and the provision of services from these ecosystems, as well as loss of revenue and livelihoods within communities.
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Mackay 2012 Clean Up
The inaugural Mackay Coastal Clean Up was held on 13 and 14 of October and thanks to BMA, all our supporters and beach adopters, as well as the Mackay and Sarina community the event was a huge success! A total of 269 volunteers joined us over the weekend to remove 2,689 kilograms of marine debris, which truly is a fantastic result for the marine life and aquatic environment in the Mackay and Sarina region.
The Clean Up focused on Mackay beaches on Saturday and Sarina beaches on Sunday, with the Clean Up occurring on all beaches between 8am and 11:30am and then being followed by a thank you barbeque from 12 noon.
We could not have asked for better weather on Saturday as our amazing beach adopters and 166 volunteers assisted us in removing 1,571 kilograms of marine debris from six beaches in the Mackay region. It was brilliant to see so many people from the community get behind the event and volunteer their time to help us clean the Mackay beaches. Some beaches were more impacted than others, with the most rubbish being found on the dirt road along Harbour Beach, which seems to be unfortunately being used as a local dumping ground.
The following kilograms were collected from each beach on the Saturday:
Lamberts Beach 38 kgs
North Harbour Beach 126 kgs
Harbour Beach 614 kgs
Town Beach 374 kgs
Far Beach 78 kgs
Bakers Creek Reserve 341 kgs
The sun was shining again on the Sunday as another group of fantastic beach adopters and 103 volunteers helped us to remove 1,118 kilograms of marine debris from six beaches in the Sarina region. We were again blown away by all the support that we received from the community and found stretches of beach that were extremely clean due to many of the locals removing rubbish every time they take a walk along the beach. However, there were still areas that seemed to be being used as a dumping ground with this rubbish being at risk of washing into our marine environment and having devastating impacts for our marine life.
The following kilograms were collected from each beach on the Sunday:
Dudgeon Point 211 kgs
Louisa Creek Beach 86 kgs
Hay Point 26 kgs
Half Tide Beach 184 kgs
Salonika Beach 553 kgs
Grasstree Beach 58 kgs
A huge thank you to everyone that was involved in our inaugural Mackay Coastal Clean Up, especially Dig-It! Landscapes, Macdow Geosea JV, Reef Catchments, Pioneer Catchment and Landcare Group, Queensland Parks and Wildlife, North Queesland Bulk Ports, Coal Port Community and Recreation Association, Conservation Volunteers, Sarina Landcare Catchment Management Association and Grasstree Beach Progress Association for adopting a beach and helping to make this event a great success.
We hope to see all our supporters and volunteers again for our next Mackay Coastal Clean Up on 18 and 19 May 2013!!
| Marine debris removed from the Whitsunday islands since July 2009 |
= | 174,764 kilograms |