A FIRST glance, some of those who volunteered for a beach clean at Flinders thought their efforts might not be needed.
But, in line with what the effort’s organisers thought, the beach soon showed it had a flip side: among the 116 kilograms of rubbish collected were chairs, concrete blocks, star pickets, old machinery, fishing tackle and one surfboard.
“What a day for a clean-up at Flinders. For a beach that several people thought was so clean,” Mary Iles, of Flinders Community Association, said.
“The kids came to help, free beach hand bins got filled and the Sea Shepherd rubbish bags were groaning with rubbish.
Iles said Sea Shepherd’s 11 person team 15 collated rubbish from the beach and car park while Ocean Divers’ team of 12 cleaned up under Flinders pier.
The divers recovered broken squid jigs, smashed bottles and many metres of tangled fishing line.
“By collecting all this we hopefully made sure our marine life is safer for another day,” Iles said.
The day was also an opportunity for artist Liz Walker to coordinate a children’s art competition, musician Emmie Li Moylan to entertain, and coffee to be enjoyed from a Coffee Lux coffee cart along with sausages cooked by the Icebergers of Flinders, a team of swimmers who head off at dawn for their early morning swim.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 23 January 2024
