South West Cleanup: 2011
Live: 14th - 21st April 2011
Topic: Marine debris
Expedition Class is supporting the South West Marine Debris Cleanup in 2011 by documenting the journey this April. Teachers and students can follow the Bookend Trust's Ninna Millikin as she joins the crew to clean up a wilderness coastline. Reports to be logged here from 14th April. Get ready in your school by downloading a marine debris monitoring form and getting your hands dirty. Love to hear from you on the forum too!
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Day 6/7: 20/21 April 2011
FINAL POST LIVE FROM THE HIGH SEAS
A still and sunny morning greeted us as we woke to the beauty of Louisa Bay, with Louisa Island pointy as a witch's hat. We took off to cruise South Coast, passing the striped slate of Isle Du Golfe on our starboard side and the towering peak of Precipitous Bluff hidden in the cloud. The surfers amongst us took to the zodiac like a bunch of seals to try their luck and skill on the break at South Cape Rivulet. Lots of paddling against the rip and not too many waves caught- and a busted lip from a board collision, proved the south west waves are not always kind.
Incredible scenery with dolerite columns and Lion Rock on our port side and Shy and Bullers albatross ahead showing off the underside of their wings for our appreciation. We arrived into Recherche bay - the fishermen tell me it's always a welcome refuge from bad weather - and had a few hours on the rocky beach where only a few bags of rubbish were collected and a white-faced heron viewed. The team took some time out to enjoy the late sun over the mountains. A quick rubbish count and a bbq with Chieftain G and Velocity tied together to make a double deck for the party that followed. Tomorrow we're all heading home after getting these huge bags of rubbish and ropes safely ashore, and as far away from beaches as we can get them. Watch out over the coming weeks for a public display of the rubbish at Salamanca Market- it should be eye opening!
Day 5: 19 April 2011
Weirdest rubbish : Bart ring (see photo)
Species of the day: White bellied sea eagle
A day blessed with fine weather and beaches cleaner than most of the others on the Cleanup trip. New Harbour was a serene place to wake, with calm seas and no wind. We passed Cox's Bluff and Red Point, arriving at Louisa Bay early to walk the beaches, only finding a few pieces of debris. My crew-mate Dan discovered a deep shore-side cavern with two separate entrances framing views of the Ironbound Range. We found a few weird items today - a gas cylinder, a fridge, a wetsuit and a plastic Bart Simpson ring that squirts water. Some of the crew got busy catching abalone, urchins and cray's. I tried urchin roe for the first time, it's like salty caviar, delicious. I went aboard with some of the cray fishermen in our crew to film them at their work, and learned a bit about setting cray pots, the special loops and knots and best places to catch. While on the dinghy, with its 150 horsepower outboard that had us flying over the surface of the water, we saw a juvenile sea eagle, cruising high above us and then two sooty oystercatchers land on a rocky island festooned with kelp. Now we're feasting on a dinner straight from the waters around us: crayfish, abalone and sea urchin roe.
Day 4: 18 April 2011
Rubbish Count: 1124 (668 cans)
Weirdest rubbish: Still inflated balloon.
Species of the day: Australian fur seals.
Today we faced the biggest seas on our way to safe anchorage at New Harbour. A 4-5 metre swell saw our 60 foot boat surfing huge wave crests and valleys as we passed Southwest Cape. My seasickness returned but the fairy prion, amazing birds that surf the air above the wave fishing for krill, and a visit from an endangered wandering albatross, kept my mind off the queasiness. The swell was the biggest I've ever been in and it was good to get to the comfort of New Harbour. We went ashore and what a spectacular beach with tannin brown river flowing to the shore and mountains and forests all around the bay. We found tiny cone-shaped spiral shells, worn by the tide to reveal their rainbow mother of pearl surfaces. We re-named it Beercan Bay, and we were kept busy collecting them from the sand and digging them out of the soil and roots of dunes.
Day 3: 17 April 2011
Rubbish count: 10274 (that's a lot!)
Weirdest piece of rubbish: Plastic casing for a mining drill.
Species of the day: Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis)
Today was huge, the biggest rubbish count EVER in the 13 year history of the cleanup. This morning the swell increased and the wind direction changed from north to north-west so we needed to make sure we got closer to a safe anchorage. The beach I walked on today was a beautiful cove with a freshwater creek but when we arrived it looked like the surface of a rubbish dump. Kelp and driftwood were thick with all kinds of plastics, rope, bottles, bags and things we couldn't recognise. There were many times in the first hour that it felt impossible we could achieve our mission to leave the beach clean. Every square metre was full of hundreds of pieces of garbage. It took 10 of us 5 hours and we filled the zodiac many times with piles of bagged rubbish.
By the time we left it looked like a beach should, with kelp and seaweed no longer drowning in a rainbow infestation of trash. We did the best we could and we knew there was more under the surface, but we'd run out of bags and needed to push on with the weather becoming unfavourable.
It was great to get back to the Odalisque and cruise the coastal cliffs and islands to Port Davey where button grass fires had made the sky glow and sunset deeper. Hot chocolate and a welcoming party of common dolphins were a highlight of the afternoon. A massive collection of rubbish meant a loooooong sorting session from 6 - 9 pm so it was a late dinner but it tasted all the better for such hard work.
Day 2: 16 April 2011
Species of the day Little Blue Penguin
Most unusual rubbish: full bottle of beer and the castle from a chess set
Another marvellous day cleaning up the flotsam and jetsam of the South West World Heritage Area coastline. I woke to the sound of the anchor chain being dragged up through the bowels of the boat - right near my head. It was only 6:30 am!
We'd spent the night near the Giblin River and the night sky was clear, the water glassy. A few of the volunteers had a surf while on our boat the Odalisque we were treated to a visit from a Little Blue Penguin. It came up close to the rear of the boat and was in very good condition with a glossy coat. We spent the morning collecting tiny pieces of plastic that were mixed in with seaweed and driftwood. The white pieces are often the same size and colour as shells and stones but after a while our eyes get used to picking them out. I collected the smallest pieces into my pocket for Emma, who is a jeweller and plans to make some jewellery from the trip. I just counted them - 186, all smaller than 5cent piece. Just the size or fish and birds to mistake for food. We also hauled another huge massive rope-knot off the beach and onto one of the fishing boats. Before dinner we tip all the bags of rubbish onto a tarpaulin and sort through the individual items, counting and sorting into categories. Last night's count was 2021 and tonight's was 2350.
Day 1: 15 April 2011
Species of the day: Australasian Gannet
Weirdest piece of rubbish: Godzilla toy
Hi, Ninna here live from the cleanup crew way down south!
It's been an awesome trip so far with plenty of wildlife seen, rubbish collected and a bit of seasickness already. Yesterday saw us head off on our fleet of fishing vessels from Hobart, Dover and Southport. A team of nearly 20 on 4 commercial fishing vessels (abalone and crayfish). Our mission is to scour the remote beaches of the South West World Heritage Area, hand collecting debris (rubbish) that has washed ashore. When you're on a spectacular beach, hardly visited by people because there are no walking tracks or roads, and a team of people can spend hours collecting bits of plastic and rope - it really makes you think what a small planet we're on and rubbish can turn up in beautiful places if it's not put in the bin or recycled.
Do you get seasick? That was a question I didn't know the answer to and I was a bit worried about spending a week on a boat. I was feeling pretty queasy at dinner time and then what I did eat went over the side of the boat to feed the fish... but I felt much better after that. There are many theories on the cures for seasickness but seeing dolphins this morning was the best cure.
The South West World Heritage Area has some amazing coastline we passed today - Cox bluff is the biggest quartzite cliff in the southern hemisphere. Here's a question for you - what is a world heritage area and how does a place become one - and why is the south west wilderness included in the list?
Today we dug out 3 huge massed knots of ropes out of the sand and dragged them to the water where a rigid inflatable boat dragged it to the 60 foot abalone boat the Odalisque where a small crane lifted them onto the back.
15 April 2011
Live from base camp in Hobart.
No word from Ninna yet on progress around the South West corner of Tassie. The boats were due to leave Hobart yesterday loaded with volunteer rubbish collectors. There were some hurried last minute instructions on how to use the netbook and satellite phone set-up to send back photos and reports. Our fingers are crossed that the technology doesn't give us any problems. If you're living in Hobart you'll only have to look out the window to see that it must have been a wet and wild start to the expedition. I think I read in the paper that it was the wettest couple of days in 50 years. If you're in a classroom this morning I hope it clears up enough to get out and stretch your legs at recess and lunch. It must get crowded on those fishing boats as they bob up and down in rough weather.
