ReefClean is a project funded by the Australian Government's Reef Trust. Launched in early 2019, the project aims to remove and prevent marine debris along the Great Barrier Reef region through to 2023. In order to do this, Tangaroa Blue Foundation has partnered with several organisations to achieve success: Conservation Volunteers Australia, Reef Check Australia, Capricornia Catchments, Eco Barge Clean Seas, OceanWatch Australia,
South Cape York Catchments, AUSMAP and Think Spatial.
The ReefClean project will deliver the following services:
Keep an eye on our events calendar for information on our activities.
Six people, 5 islands and 800kg of debris in just 2 days!
COVID-19 restrictions have meant that we have not been able to run some of our regular dry season clean-up activities in Cape York. Instead, as general restrictions have eased, we took a small dedicated team of volunteers up to the islands of the Turtle Group National Park in the northern Great Barrier Reef. These islands are small and made of deep coral rubble, which made walking around quite challenging.
Tangaroa Blue launches digital ReefClean campaigns to stop the spread of single-use plastic litter.
In May, the Tangaroa Blue Foundation, through its ReefClean project, held several online Source Reduction Workshops to reduce litter items in the natural environment.
This month, the Tangaroa Blue Foundation, through its ReefClean project, held five online Source Reduction Workshops. These workshops, brought together community members, local businesses, Councils and other organisations to develop digital campaigns that address some of the top items found along the Great Barrier Reef region. Read more “ReefClean Campaigns to stop the spread”
Over 24 tonnes of debris were removed from the beaches of the Great Barrier Reef through the ReefClean project during 2019, but this is only the tip of the plastic-fighting iceberg.
As we look back nostalgically on 2019, the year before any of us had heard of COVID 19 or social distancing, we remember those socially close days with volunteers patrolling our beaches to tackle marine debris. However, picking up rubbish will only ever be one part of reducing the impact of plastics in the ocean.
Today Tangaroa Blue Foundation is launching the report for the first full year of the ReefClean Project. The 5-year project brings together groups and individuals from along the length of the Great Barrier Reef to not only remove marine debris but also to prevent more debris entering the sea and impacting the iconic reef. Read more “Reef Clean 2019: A year of Cooperation, Collaboration and a Load of Rubbish”
In Far North Queensland, we are no longer surprised by the large loads of marine debris carried in by the Australian Eastern Current. But every now and then, something special washes up that we can get excited about.
Last year on the 17th of November, Tangaroa Blue, as part of the ReefClean project took 14 volunteers out to Snapper Island off Port Douglas, QLD for the annual clean-up that’s been running since 2009. At the end of the day, as the team sorted and recorded marine debris items for the 16-year-old Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI) Database, they came across a meteorological buoy that traveled over 40 months from New Zealand to arrive on the shores of Snapper Island. Through details listed on the buoy, such as the Canadian manufacturing company and IMEI number, we were able to track it back to its source and learn more about its voyage. Read more “ReefClean finds a meteorological buoy”
Marine debris and plastic pollution on the Great Barrier Reef are of significant concern to both commercial and recreational fishermen. In particular the impacts on marine life affect fishermen in diverse ways. Fish stocks are affected by large ghost nets and on a smaller but more diverse scale by discarded fishing line, lures, netting and other fishing items such as polystyrene floats. A major concern is microplastics and plastic fibres which adsorb toxins such as herbicides and pesticides in the water. These small plastics are eaten by fish or accumulated by filter feeders such as oysters and mussels and even enter the food chain when consumed with phytoplankton and zooplankton.
Read more “Fishing, Marine Debris and the Great Barrier Reef!”
