Update

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Many community members from across the greater Mossel Bay came out in their numbers to help clean up various beaches along the coastline as part of International Coastal Clean-up Day on Saturday 20 September.

The clean-ups, which were organised by the Mossel Bay Conservancy Forum, a non-profit company, and executed by several local conservancies and organisations, saw scores of rubbish bags filled with cigarette butts, lollipop sticks and sweet and chip wrappers, these being the items picked up the most on the Mossel Bay beaches.

The organisations involved in the clean-up were the Great Brak River Conservancy, Mossel Bay Conservancy, the Midbrak and Dana Bay conservancies, the Stranded Marine Animal Rescue Team, the Earth Legacy Foundation, the Wildlife Crime Information Network, Surfer Kids, IOceans Trust, Springer Bay and the Fransmanshoek Conservancy.

The clean-up efforts at The Point on Saturday, 20 September. Photo: Supplied/ Earth Legacy Foundation

Esther Jacobs of the Earth Legacy Foundation, who led a clean-up at The Point, said they had a decent turn-out of volunteers. 

“We picked up lots of cigarette butts. There were well into the hundreds, which is a big problem for marine life as they break down into microplastics and also leach out toxic chemicals. We also picked up quite a bit of lollipop sticks and sweet wrappers.”

She said the volunteers busied themselves with the clean-up for about an hour.

Dana Bay Conservancy’s chairperson, Erika van der Westhuizen, said their group of 36 volunteers combed the beaches from the Blind River, 2nd Beach and 1st Beach towards Pinnacle Point. 

Several children volunteered for the clean-up between Little Brak River and Hartenbos. Photo: Supplied/ Leon Rossouw

“Cigarette butts and microplastics. That is what we picked up the most,” she said.

She and some volunteers also came across an abandoned bag filled with baboon grapes (Rhoicissus digitata). Van der Westhuizen suspects the plants had been poached from the 1st Beach area. These plants are thought to have had decades of growth and would be impossible to replant successfully.

Leon Rossouw of the Wildlife Crime Information Network led a group of about 10 people on a clean-up between Little Brak River and Hartenbos. Rossouw said he was pleased to see that many of the volunteers were children. 

“Their participation shows that caring for the environment starts young - and that every small act makes a big difference. By removing plastic, bottles and other waste from the sand, these young ocean guardians are helping to create a safer home for sea turtles, seabirds and countless other marine species,” he said.

Scott Thomson, the chairperson of the Great Brak River Conservancy, said the clean-up at the Suiderkruis Beach saw about 100 people volunteer. 

“The community really came together,” he said.

Some of the bags of rubbish collected during the clean-up in the Dana Bay area. Photo: Facebook/ Dana Bay Conservancy

Thomson will be collecting data from the clean-ups from the other organisations throughout the week. 

Events like this help raise awareness, and the data collection is important as it helps these organisations understand why certain items may be dropped on beaches more than others. The findings can then be addressed and certain measures may be put in place.

“I want to thank everyone who came out to support the clean-up,” said Thomson. 

“I would also like to encourage people to take a bag with them the next time they visit the beach and to pick up any litter they see. It is everyone’s responsibility to look after our environment,” he said. 

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