Reports had come through that there was some illegal dumping going on up at Rocky Point (Far North Queensland) and that assistance was needed to remove the heavy and large items that had been dumped along the coast between Wonga and Mossman. So we decided to check it out ourselves along with 32 enthusiastic volunteers on a mission to make our beach cleaner.
After going through 2km stretch of the beach, we found all kinds of debris, big and small washed up from the ocean along with the usual suspects such as plastic bottles and packaging, aluminum cans, plastic foams, and so on.
A total of 3696 items in 20 bags weighing up to 167.8kg were picked up. And it doesn’t stop there.
Some of the volunteers headed out with local Queensland Parks and Wildlife Rangers to pick up some large items which were known to be dumped there illegally. Large items such as car seats, tyres, big plastic drums, and even an air conditioner and microwave which amounted up to 194kg were also picked up bringing the grand total to 361.8kg in 38 bags + other large items.
The data showed a huge difference to Cape Kimberley beach which is just a few kilometres to the north and shows that over 80% of the debris on that beach washes up out of the ocean from other locations. At Rocky Point over 90% of the debris was illegally dumped, thrown out of car windows on the nearby road or left by beach users. As this debris comes from a local source it is also one that can be easily addressed and we encourage the Cairns Regional Council to look into a solution.
A huge thank you to those who came out today as well as Malone’s Butcher for lunch, the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service Rangers, volunteers from Low Isles Preservation Society, Mossman Senior High School, Cairns Regional Council and the Gambling Community Benefit Fund for all the support!!
Hope to see you guys again on our next mission.
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