News
Record numbers clean up in 25th Great British Beach Clean
Results show community clean-ups have made a dent in beach litter figures this year, but charity stresses this masks a growing plastic litter trend
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) says their Great British Beach Clean, run in partnership with Waitrose, was the biggest mass participation beach clean and survey event the UK has ever witnessed. The charity says the event, held over four days in September, involved just short of 15,000 volunteers – double the number in 2017.
At many of the 494 beaches that were cleaned and surveyed around the UK coast (155 more than in 2017), there were well over 100 volunteers – amongst the highest the charity has ever seen on individual beaches. The biggest turnouts were 306 volunteers at Pegwell Bay, Kent; 270 at Severn Beach, Gloucestershire; 155 at Swansea Bay and 146 at Ayr, South Ayrshire.
8,550 kgs of litter was picked up across the whole of the UK – that’s about three times as heavy as the tongue of a blue whale – the largest animal ever known to have lived on earth.
Volunteer cleaners picked up an average of 600 items of litter on every 100m surveyed. But although the volunteer number and events rose, the amount of litter collected actually dropped.
Lizzie Prior, MCS Beach and River Clean-up Project Officer, says although a drop in litter sounds like good news, it is in fact anything but: “In 2017 our volunteers picked up an average of 717 items of litter for every 100m they cleaned and surveyed, this year that figure dropped by 16%. But it’s almost certainly a false dawn. UK governments must certainly not think the crisis is over and slow down or shelve any much-needed litter legislation.
“Litter levels fluctuate year on year and for the last decade have risen by over 15% .The Great British Beach Clean is just a snapshot of the UK litter story and must be seen in the context of the broader trending picture. There’s more litter in our seas than there has ever been.”
But, says Lizzie, the sheer number of people who turned out shows that the mental tide on litter really is turning: ‘Picking up litter at the beach is now bang on trend. Social media feeds are filled with people’s pictures of what they find at the coast, on rivers and at sea. Finally, beach cleaning is cool and mainstream. So, we may have found less litter this year because so many more people are cleaning beaches whenever and wherever they can!”
MCS says the UK cannot beach clean its way out of our beach litter crisis. Following the iconic BBC Blue Planet II series, Drowning in Plastic documentary and Sky’s Ocean Rescue campaign, we now know the damage our ‘throwaway’ culture has done to our seas and urgently need to reduce the amount of plastic we produce. The charity says one element of the solution is to create a genuine circular economy system in the UK where ‘waste’ is valued as a resource and used time and time again rather than polluting our countryside, coasts and seas.
A Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is under development in Scotland and has been promised for England. MCS says the Government now has a golden opportunity to bring in the best system possible – one that will include all bottles and cans. This will not only ensure maximum participation and minimum confusion but will also mean that we see the greatest economic benefits in terms of cost savings, job creation and boosting the development of a domestic recycling infrastructure. A Defra consultation on DRS is expected in the coming months.
In England, there’s currently a Defra consultation taking place to gather people’s views on proposals to ban the distribution and/or sale of plastic straws, plastic-stemmed cotton buds (7th in the Top 10 list of beach litter finds this year) and plastic drink stirrers.
On average, for every 100 metres of the UK coastline cleaned there were:
- nearly 189 plastic/polystyrene pieces
- 38 plastic caps /lids
- 21 cotton bud sticks
- 16 drinks bottles and cans
- 12 wet wipes
- 5 plastic bags
- 3 plastic / polystyrene cups
Lizzie Prior says we must not let the impetus to solve the ocean pollution crisis slow down:
“It feels that we are on the precipice of being able to make positive changes when it comes to our plastic addiction. We’ve been blown away by the number of people who are cleaning the UK’s beaches either at organised events like the Great British Beach Clean or just at random trips to the beach.“Disappointingly, the recent budget only included one potential measure for reducing plastic usage, despite the huge response to the recent call for evidence. It’s more important than ever that we make governments aware of what a colossal mistake dragging their feet on bans, taxes and incentives on single use plastic will be for our seas.”
For more information about the Marine Conservation Society please visit their website by clicking here.
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Jake Davies boards Ghazala Explorer for an unforgettable Red Sea diving experience…
Overnight, the wind picked up, making the planned morning dive a bit bumpy on the Zodiacs to the drop point on Thomas Reef. There, we would dive along the reef before descending through the canyon and then passing under the arch before ascending the wall with a gentle drift. The site provided great encounters with more pelagic species, including shoals of large barracuda, tuna, and bigeye trevally.
Once back on the boat, it was time to get everything tied down again as we would head back south. This time, with the wind behind us, heading to Ras Mohammed to dive Jackfish Alley for another great gentle drift wall dive before then heading up the coast towards the Gulf of Suez to moor up at the wreck of the Thistlegorm. This being the highlight wreck dive of the trip and for many onboard, including myself, it was the first time diving this iconic wreck. I had heard so much about the wreck from friends, and globally, this is a must on any diver’s list. Fortunately for us, there was only one other boat at the site, which was a rarity. A great briefing was delivered by Ahmed, who provided a detailed background about the wreck’s history along with all the required safety information as the currents and visibility at the site can be variable.
Kitting up, there was a lot of excitement on deck before entering the water and heading down the shoreline. Descending to the wreck, there was a light northerly current which reduced the visibility, making it feel more like the conditions that can be found off the Welsh coast. At 10m from the bottom, the outline of the wreck appeared as we reached the area of the wreck which had been bombed, as our mooring line was attached to part of the propeller shaft. Arriving on deck, instantly everywhere you looked there were many of the supplies which the ship was carrying, including Bren Carrier tanks and projectiles that instantly stood out.
We headed around the exterior, taking a look at the large propeller and guns mounted on deck before entering the wreck on the port side to take a look in the holds. It was incredible to see all the trucks, Norton 16H, and BSA motorcycles still perfectly stacked within, providing a real snapshot in time.
Overall, we had four dives on the Thistlegorm, where for all of the dives we were the only group in the water, and at times, there were just three of us on the whole wreck, which made it even more special, especially knowing that most days the wreck has hundreds of divers. Along with the history of the wreck, there was plenty of marine life on the wreck and around, from big green turtles to batfish, along with shoals of mackerel being hunted by trevally. Some unforgettable dives.
The final leg of the trip saw us cross back over the Suez Canal to the Gobal Islands where we planned to stay the night and do three dives at the Dolphin House for the potential of sharing the dive with dolphins. The site, which included a channel that was teeming with reef fish, especially large numbers of goatfish that swam in large shoals along the edge of the reef. These were nice relaxing dives to end the week. Unfortunately, the dolphins didn’t show up, which was okay as like all marine life they are difficult to predict and you can’t guarantee what’s going to be seen. With the last dive complete, we headed back to port for the final night where it was time to clean all the kit and pack before the departure flight the next day.
The whole week from start to finish on Ghazala Explorer was amazing; the boat had all the facilities you need for a comfortable week aboard. The crew were always there to help throughout the day and the chefs providing top quality food which was required after every dive. The itinerary providing some of the best diving with a nice mixture of wreck and reef dives. I would recommend the trip to anyone, whether it’s your first Red Sea liveaboard in the Red Sea or you’re revisiting. Hopefully, it’s not too long before I head back to explore more of the Red Sea onboard Ghazala Explorer.
To find out more about the Northern Red Sea reef and wrecks itineraries aboard Ghazala Explorer, or to book, contact Scuba Travel now:
Email: dive@scubatravel.com
Tel: +44 (0)1483 411590
Photos: Jake Davies / Avalon.Red
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