Spring cleaning NZ beaches
News
What better time than spring to spruce up some of our much-loved beaches? Thanks to our keen volunteers, we’ve been busy collecting rubbish to protect our sea animals.
We’ve held beach cleans at Tahuna Torea Beach in Auckland, and Evans Bay Beach in Wellington - where we partnered with Sea Shepherd and got to see their innovative "nurdle sieves" in action.
This Spring, thanks to our keen volunteers, we collected and removed 139 kg of rubbish.
Image credit: Sebastian Roennfeldt
The plastic tide in our oceans is rising
Today, plastics and other marine litter are one of the major threats to sea animals. Even if this problem stopped tomorrow, the effects will persist for centuries. Concerns are increasing about the effects of microplastics on the health of sea animals like fish, whales and seabirds.
You only need to take a walk on a beach anywhere in the world to see the scale of the marine litter problem.
About 10% of all marine litter is lost, discarded and abandoned fishing gear. Known as ghost gear it is the biggest threat facing sea animals.
Which is why World Animal Protection founded the Global Ghost Gear Initiative in 2015 to get governments, NGOs and companies to combat this global problem.
It’s clear that now is the time for action. And we can play our part today by helping to keep our beaches clean and free from plastic pollution.
Image credit: Sebastian Roennfeldt
Today, plastics and other marine litter are one of the major threats to sea animals. Even if this problem stopped tomorrow, the effects will persist for centuries.