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Marine Life & Conservation

Record numbers clean up in 25th Great British Beach Clean

Published

6 years ago

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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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Marine Life & Conservation

Shark Trust launches Oceanic 31 Shark Art Auction

Published

3 weeks ago

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November 1, 2024

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After a two-year tour of UK art galleries, community spaces and aquariums, the Shark Trust’s acclaimed Oceanic31 exhibition takes its final bow at the Royal Geographical Society later this month. And the unique collection of artwork, depicting 31 species of oceanic sharks and rays, donated by 31 artists, is now open for bids from art lovers and shark enthusiasts. The online auction, launched today, will close on the 7th December at 8pm (BST). The money raised will support the Shark Trust Oceanics Programme.

People can now bid on 27 of the artworks by visiting this website:

https://superstars-auctions.com/sharktrustauction

It is a chance to own a beautiful piece of original art and to support the Shark Trust. The timing of the auction also means that these would make a very special Christmas gift for any shark-lover.

The diversity of pieces mirrors that of the sharks and rays they represent. You can bid on paintings, digital creations, sculptures, mixed media and more. You can pick your favourite artist or species of shark. Or you can select the perfect artwork to make a statement in your home or office. Whichever you choose, you will be supporting the work to protect these amazing animals.

One of the pieces of art has been selected to be auctioned live by Steve Backshall at the For the Love of Sharks event at the Royal Geographical Society in London on the 29th November. In addition to this, two further pieces will be raffled at this event, giving people a chance to win an incredible piece of shark art. For the Love of Sharks is the Shark Trust’s flagship evening. A night to celebrate sharks. Steve Backshall is the headline speaker at this event that will see other prominent shark advocates join him on stage.

Tickets for the event can be snapped up here:

https://thesharktrust.org.uk/Event/flos24

Those that would like to see the Oceanic 31 exhibition have one final chance. It is being displayed at the Pavilion at the Royal Geographic Society from 26th November until the 7th December. Entry is free.

Find out more here:

https://www.rgs.org/events/upcoming-events/oceanic-31

 Paul Cox, Shark Trust CEO, Said “This exhibition has given us the opportunity to reach out to a new audience. And inspire more people with the wonderful sharks and rays on which our Big Shark Pledge campaign is based. We are immensely grateful to the 31 artists who have worked so hard to create these works.”

Bid for your favourite Oceanic 31 artwork here:
https://superstars-auctions.com/sharktrustauction

Banner Image: Smooth Hammerhead by Alicia Hayden

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Marine Life & Conservation

Meet Steve Backshall in the Bite-Back Prize Draw

Published

1 month ago

on

October 21, 2024

By

steve backshall

Until 28 November, prizes worth a massive £10,000 – including experiences, products and tuition – feature in a line-up of items that can be won for £5 in an online prize draw to celebrate Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation’s 20th anniversary and help generate crucial funds for the future.

Top of the list of prizes is the chance to spend time with adventurer and wildlife expert Steve Backshall, a workout session with Nat Geo star Aldo Kane, a kayaking trip alongside white-water expert and diver Sal Montgomery and a Zoom call with ‘shark whisperer’ Cristina Zenato.

On top of that, some of the most admired companies in the diving and scuba industry have been quick to support the charity with fabulous prizes that make the £5 ticket price worth more than just a flutter.

Master Liveaboards, BSAC, Midlands Diving Chamber, Go Freediving and Blue Shark Snorkel have all generously donated experience prizes, while celebrated photographer Alex Mustard has donated a print and artists Scott Gleed and Olivier Leger have donated a sculpture and illustration to help boost the fundraising pot.

Fourth Element has donated Ocean Positive gear and LA watch company Nodus has gifted the charity a stunning dive watch. For land lovers, the charity has included a five star London hotel stay at Bankside Hotel plus a family visit to Longleat Safari Park in the roster of prizes.

Campaign director for Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’ve been overwhelmed with support from companies and individuals that we truly admire and who have supported us on our 20 year journey and we’re truly grateful to them all. While we feel incredibly proud of our achievements over the past two decades – and we are super excited about the next chapter – this prize draw isn’t a vanity project. It represents a real lifeline to our work and important advancements in the global protection of sharks. So we hope divers, dive clubs and even bargain hunters grab some tickets to make this a massive success.”

The charity hopes that the prize draw will generate crucial funds to launch a brand new, ground-breaking, campaign to enrol the public and increase support for the protection of sharks around the world.

To enter the competition visit www.bite-back.com/prizedraw. The prize winners will be announced on 1 December 2024.

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