Fridays Blog

Today the south-easterly weather receded and the sunshine poked through the clouds as the SW marine debris flotilla made its way around the spectacular southern Tasmanian coastline.

The Odalisque crew cruised past South West Cape and were treated to sightings of schools of common dolphins as well as a couple of albatross hotspots. Meanwhile the Velocity crew started beachcombing around 10am after steaming all night.

After a good feed the boats rendezvoused at the Giblin, most for the first time. After a brief run-down on the craft of rubbish-collecting from Matt, team Marine Debris were digging out a 3m2 nest of tangled rope and after half an hour of frenzied digging and straining, the triumphant team hauled the 400kg coloured spaghetti mass to the water's edge where it was transferred to the Odalisque by zodiac.

The rest of the afternoon was punctuated by another mammoth dig and slow wandering along the sunny beach collecting more plastic and ropey treasures. The beach was clean with the removal of only 1881 items, less than half of last years total.