The Final Countdown

The team awoke in New Harbour feeling sore but grateful for an early night after an enormous day on Stephens and Noyhener beaches. The count began after a slow wakeup and nourishing breakfast; sorting through yesterday's haul brought up many vivid stories of the day's finds and adventures. We reminisced as we counted and sorted through debris from the two different beaches, ending with a total of 12,149 pieces for the day, with 7,446 from Stephens, and 4,703 from Noyhener.

This gave us a grand total of 50,838 pieces for the trip - an absolutely massive effort for our beach crew of just 11 people over 6 days.

After completing the count, Rumours steamed out to Maatsuyker Island for Bucky's grand ocean tour including bird watching, a visit to a seal colony, and a bbq lunch on deck. While Rumours went wide, Velocity hugged the coast looking for a wave - unfortunately the search for surf was unsuccessful but the trip provided Velocity's crew with majestic views of the geologically diverse South Coast, as well as a visit from an enormous pod of dolphins. 

The two boats reconvened in Recherche Bay for the last raft up of the trip. For our final meal onboard we enjoyed a feast of stripey trumpeter three ways; ceviche, bbq'd and deep fried. After looking through photos of trips long past with a fantastic slideshow from Matt, we've spent the evening swapping stories and celebrating another great year of The Cleanup.

This trip leaves us with an all-time total of over 895,684 pieces of marine debris removed from Tasmania's South West Coast. 

An enormous thanks to our incredible supporters and major sponsors Patagonia, Intuit technologies, Wildcare, Pennicott Wilderness Journeys and TSIC. Also for the generous donations from local businesses of their delicious food and drinks to keep us fueled up for the trip: Gillespie's ginger beer, MOO brew beers, Pigeon Whole bakery bread, the Splendid Gin spritzes, Masaaki's sushi, Willie Smith's ciders, and Huon Valley Seafood keeping it all cold with their sea ice! And finally to our wonderful skippers Adam and Dave, without whom this trip would not be possible. 

Net Wars

Today was a big day; its 10:15pm and the restaurant at the end of the world has just served up a very late okonomiyaki dinner. Today started with a brisk 45 minute walk from Spain Bay over the unusually dry track to Stephens Beach. The western end of Stephens was sheltered and yielded very little in the way of rubbish. Around halfway down the beach the usual microplastics and small rope pieces started appearing. After 3 hours on Stephens, the team embarked on a 20 minute walk through the mobile dune fields. Emerging through the boobyalla scrub, we arrived at Noyhener beach at 3pm for a 4 hour power cleaning session. We hadn't cleaned Noyhener for a number of years, and were greeted by multiple enormous trawlnets and countless microplastics. There was also a large stash of marine debris at the campsite, thanks to bushwalkers doing their bit while hiking the South West Circuit.

Volume wise, this was the biggest haul of the trip. Well over 500 kgs of trawl net were removed from this one beach, with multiple long trolley hauls in the pouring rain. This made for an extreme dinghy extraction in the large South Westerly swell - thanks to Dave's amazing skills on the tiller, everyone got home safely and (relatively) dry.

After 9 hours on land, the tired and bedraggled crew made their way East; rounding Southwest Cape escorted by many thousands of shearwaters and albatross. We left the count for the next day, to be completed after a good night's rest in the calm sanctuary of New Harbour.

P.s. The smurfette collected by Alby won the immunity item for the day!

A New Rope

The morning was wet and wild when we awoke in Bramble Bay in Port Davey. The westerly winds were blowing and the swell was forecast for 5 metres, so we had limited options for safe landings for beaches to clean.

The surfers amongst us were keen for a wave. It was a wild crossing past the Breaksea islands to Earl Point, where there were some gentle and fun waves braking. The surfers bravely faced the squally weather and spent some fun hours surfing landlocked in the wilderness.

The rest of the crew had a wonderful adventure up the Davey River. This dark, tannin stained river was explored in the trusty tinny named “420 Buster”, navigating sandbars and sunken old Huon pines. The river runs through a beautiful quartzite gorge, which was quite simply, gorgeous.

We travelled as far as we could up the river until we hit rapids, and had a delightful picnic on the bank, feeling very grateful for being in such a wild and removed place.

The afternoon consisted of a clean up of the beaches along the north side of Bond Bay, and we are happy to report that there was very little rubbish, with only 36 pieces of rubbish collected by our team.

The remainder of the day was filled with swims, basket weaving and naps. The wild weather abated to reward us with a glorious sunset as we filled our bellies with some hearty dinner

The Nurdle Strikes Back

The team had a later start this morning with the Velocity crew having a big crayfish fry up for breakfast courtesy of our king of crays Masaaki, while the Rumours crew warded off scurvy with Jay making a big and very delicious fruit salad. After breakfast we had an exciting steam over to Bramble Cove, inside Port Davy, with some waves breaking over the beam. After waiting for the morning showers to stop we headed ashore and immediately found ourselves deep in microplastic land.

The team spent several hours all together sifting through the sticks and stones unearthing endless small plastic pieces and nurdles. Half the team then continued further around the rocky shoreline finding a variety of big plastics including 106 plastic bottles, 158 bottle caps and one very large piece of green striped salmon farm plastic piping. This was nothing, however, compared to the small stuff with 2,010 small rope pieces and 4,717 plastic pieces. Eventually the team made it round to a beach for pick up.

Back on Rumours the crafter-noon was in full swing with our basket making queen, Lee, teaching us basket making from the colourful ropes we’ve picked up. Later in the afternoon the two boats rafted up behind Turnbull Island and it was time for the count. Dinner was a Captain Bucky and Masaaki special with steak, barbecued tuna, veggies and chips!

The final number for the day was 8,796

Caitlin

Return of the Microplastics

The team awoke at dawn and headed north out of Port Davey for the first day cleaning an open ocean beach. Escorted up the coast by albatross and shearwater, the crew were dropped in the sheltered coves at the northern end of Wreck Bay. What started as a gentle walk along the beach through the steep sharp rocks soon descended into a slow crawl on all fours picking up thousands of small plastic pieces. The density of the plastic meant it took the crew of 11 over 2 hours to move 100 metres along the face and base of large dune south of a tannin stained creek. The creek also yielded a number of large ropes and a large, very heavy plastic encased glass pressure buoy, rated to use at depths up to 6700 metres. 

South of the beach past the remnants of the wreck of the Svenor, whose ribs were still visible along the tideline, the team found another small plastic hotspot. After 6 hours on the beach we dragged our haul back over the angrily sharp quartzite headlands and back to a sheltered beach for Dave to retrieve in the dingy.

The count took well over three hours with a record 898 nurdles amongst the 15,646 items counted. Over 12,000 of these items were plastic pieces, along with over 1000 pieces of rope, 484 bottle caps and 196 bait straps.

Masaaki's restaurant at the end of the world served up a late but sumptuous feast of fresh tuna temaki handrolls, BBQ crayfish, and a magnificent rich crayfish and vegetable miso to celebrate Albert's 26th birthday.

 

Hannants Inlet

Team clean started the day rafted up for a fry-up brekkie in beautiful calm Schooner Cove, where the bravest and noblest among us had a morning swim. We sprang into action preparing ourselves for an overland assault on Stephen’s Beach, only to change tack immediately on seeing the forecast. After our haily day yesterday, 20kt Southerlies out on the coast didn’t feel attractive. Instead we putted over to the beaches of Hannant’s Inlet with the strategy of divide and conquer.

Initially team Rumours was leading the count on the longer beach on the Eastern side. It was hit and miss on the other beaches, with some of the crew finding nothing and others being sucked into the micro-vortex.

We eventually joined forces to tackle a sludgy disheartening stretch of shore where rope and plastic were embedded in the soil and undergrowth everywhere we looked. That final couple of hundred metres took us a good couple of hours, digging and crawling through the scrub to pull out festy net pieces and bottles. Big ticket items were some big buoys, a fender and some fish crates. After six hours we called it a day, with everyone happy to get back to the boats and have a good scrub

We spent the evening in Bond Bay, where the first pots of the infamous cray competition were set, and after the count we settled in on Rumours for curry night (thanks Ruth and Masaki!)

The final count for today was 5,563

By Gabby

Day 1 of the 2025 Clean UP!

The crew on Rumours made it into to Schooner Cove before dark last night after a heroic steam by Skipper Bucky and deckie Grant. A mix bag of experiences with some crew sleeping off the journey comfortably and others suffering the effects of big seas and wild conditions. A floatila of boats met us, also sheltering out the storms in Schooner Cove. It was a relief to get into calm waters and see the majesty of Bathurst Harbour before dark. 

Woke early to meet Velocity in Spain Bay to coordinate the plans for the day. With such a small team this year it was logistically easy to get us from our respective boats and onto the easterly corner to tackle the micro plastic build up! The first day is always a shock as we're always confronted by so much marine debris in this wild and precious place.    

Wild weather with hail was the order of the day with 2 fab storms coming through, drenching the crew and causing some wardrobe malfunctions and readjustments! Luckily we had a few breaks where the sun came out and we could take in the beautiful views of Mt Stokes and Breaksea Islands.

Small plastic bags pieces, bait bags, bait straps by the hundreds and rope of every size and shape was collected. A few interesting items were bagged, such as drift card from CSIRO, circa 1970's. If we  post the card back we'll be rewarded handsomely with the princely sum of 70cents. We also found half a toy soldier, a canon printer cartridge, a syringe with needle intact and the usual paraphenalia that floats on the ocean currents and winds up on our coastline.

We started the count once rafted up back at Schooner Cove with all the new crew getting the rundown from the veterans of how it works. With 11 beach combers we had less to categorise this year and got the job done. Micro counting on Rumours brings out the hyper focused individuals  to finish off the day's work.  

Total count for day 1 - 8676! Good job team!

Travelling

We have awoken to the subdued grey and green hues of the far southwest in Spain Bay after a deep sleep lengthened by the gentle roll of the boat in this sheltered safe haven. Yesterday's steam from Southport was one of the more challenging we have experienced, with a confused swell of 5 to 8 metres, with westerly winds backing from 20 knots to around 15 by the time we made Southwest Cape. Enormous rafts and flocks of seabirds surrounded the boat as we made our way past Maatsuyker Island and while Ula and Ruth managed the effects of prolonged seasickness our resident fishing master Masaaki pulled in a fat 25 kilo tuna in very challenging conditions. We arrived at Spain Bay after an 8 hour punch at 10:30pm. 

Today we will spend the day inducting the newbies Jay, Jen and Caitlin to the meditation that is southwest rubbish extraction. Spain Bay offers a gentle start, wandering the protected sandy beaches with a little creek microplastic kicker at the end of the bay amongst a tangle of sticks and branches.

Photos by Ula and Matt

Departure Day

 After a few days of provisioning and last minute ice and fuel provisioning the crew are ready for Departure from Southport.  Thankfully the wind has backed off a little and we are heading around the coast to Port Davey.  Its going to be a bit bumpy to start with but should ease as we make our way around the south coast.  A massive thanks to all of our wonderful sponsors Patagonia, Gillespies Ginger beer, Moo Brew, Pennicott Adventures, Splendid Gin and some new sponsors  Tasmanian  Blue Seafoods and Willy Smiths.  

2025 Cleanup preparations

We are well into preparations for the 2025 clean up. A plane has surveyed the entire coast from Low Rocky Point to Port Davey and maps have been produced so we can efficiently target out cleaning efforts. There is a cut down crew of 14 this year, with long serving skippers of the Celtic Rose and Nena, Darren and Harry having a well earned year off. 

We hope to head off this Friday and will look to make the calm waters of Port Davey sometime on Saturday. The weather is looking a little challenging and we will keep you all updated on our progress.

Coxes Bight-South Coast Tour back to Recherche Bay

 The boats awoke to a stunning sunrise and headed east for a day of sightseeing and surfing. The Rumours offloaded their surfers and headed for a circumnavigation of Maatsuyker Island, the Roundtop and Flat-top islands before heading out to Pedra Branca for a spot of fishing. The Nena and Velocity headed east trawling for the first Bluefin of the trip. Albert hooked and landed a nice fat 25 kg specimen just east of the Big Witch. The surfing crew jumped in at South Cape Rivulet for fun few hours of waves while the Celtic Rose jammed their way towards Recherche Bay warming up for the night ahead.

The boats rafted up in the late afternoon sun, prepared all of the lovely seafood collected over the last ten days and sat back and enjoyed the music under a starlit sky from the Wild Roses, the 2024 cleanup band. Over 55,000 items have been collected, counted, itemized and documented and are heading back to civilization where they belong.

A massive thanks to the skippers Darren , Dave,  Adam and Nick along with our fantastic volunteers who braved sea sickness, storms and the chilly autumn mornings to clean the shores of the magnificent TWWHA. Thanks also to many the sponsors and supporters without whom this effort would not be possible. 

Coxes Bight

 Much of the crew got a good night’s rest at New Harbour, so it was no surprise that 21 of us hit the beach at Cox Bight this morning with renewed enthusiasm. We did a 7km return walk, from our drop-off point to Point Eric and back. 

It wasn’t an easy landing, but we hopped, skipped and slipped over jagged rocks and Neptune’s necklace, and began the long beach stroll west. This was our first chance to hit the South Coast Track, which generally creates different conditions for the clean-up crew – the campsites offered up plenty of big rubbish pieces, such as buoys and big ropes. There were also a few balloons caught in the coastal scrub, seemingly celebrating a 4^th birthday, as well as some waders, a long-handed shovel and a broken hiking pole. Inevitably, though, the tide-line still offered up lots of plastic fragments.

Other highlights included a group photo (beautifully framed by team photographer Albert Wyatt), as well as sightings of Bassian thrush, sea eagles, red-capped plovers and a stack of hooded plovers. There was also an abundance of handsome spiders amongst the rubbish piled up at one South Coast Track campsite.

We returned east along the beach to find some pretty challenging surf at our pick-up point. Almost everyone involved got a bit wet, but we also got to witness some impressive dinghy driving skills and the whole crew was returned to designated boats safely, in order to make a rather high-spirited count of the rubbish. Today’s tally was 5273 pieces of rubbish – an impressive result given the amount of large items we lugged along the beach.

It’s now our eighth night on the south-west coast, and hard to imagine the trip’s finishing up soon. There’s still one full day left to enjoy our time out here – and it’s probably a fair bet to say we’ll enjoy it to the fullest.

Spain Bay to Stephens Beach

 The teams mobilised early and headed to Spain Bay in preparation for a visit to one of the most beautiful beaches in the South West.  The 22 volunteers embarked on the 45 minute walk to Stephens Beach, with some spotting the elusive ground parrot amongst the button grass and heath.  Steve was first on the beach and headed off on a quick 6.5 km walk to the far end of Noyhener Beach to check the River mouth boat access. The large 4-7 metre swells meant there would be no boat pickup and everything collected would have to be carried back across to Spain Bay.

The beach with its towering dunes and numerous scattered living places yielded the usual assortment of microplastics, nurdles, bottle tops and ropes along with a large number of small crayfish tags. In 5 hours the team managed to collect 10069 items. 

Schooner Cove, Spain Bay and Norman Cove

We woke this morning to a soft grey morning with low cloud and super still air. The forecast was for high winds and rain. A few brave souls headed for Spain Bay for a morning of collecting mostly micro plastics in the beautifully protected beach. The soft clouds and occasional squalls passing allowed us the privilege of listening to the birds and the gentle wash of the waves. 

While we were on the beach, Dave and Harry provided a masterclass in wingfoiling, enthralling us as we looked up from the sand.

While the team were on Spain Bay, the boat team headed for Norman Cove, where the swell was building throughout the day, and it was more exposed to the wind and rain. It was a rough trip for 4 bags of rubbish including a printer cartridge for a total of 601 pieces. Spain Bay yielded 6 bags of rubbish including carpet, a lego wheel and a range of clothes pieces for a total of 7743 pieces. The weather closed in the late afternoon so the boats rafted up for the count and a early night.

Port Davey - Choose your own adventure day

Monday 1st April, well who's the fool? We've just realised it's Aprils Fool's Day and we've missed the opportunity to do some serious pranking!!! Time has a way of slipping away or slowing down out here!

After a fabulous night in Schooner Cove, rafted up to enjoy fine food, drink and company with our resident pumping band Miscellaneous Debris, it was a slow start this morning. The word was out that it was a ‘Choose your own Adventure Day.’ The options were to bush walk, surf with a side of rubbish collection, chill, or take a trip up into Claytons Corner and onto Melaleuca Inlet to pick up a crew member.

The phrase herding cats is used often as the team rally, talk logistics, check weather, liasise with skippers and deckies, check the weather again, gather their gear, pack food, water and essentials and finally get into zodiacs or head off in their respective boats.

Velocity and Nena filled with walkers, surfers and rubbish collectors, dropped the Mount Stokes/Mount Misery walkers at the start of the track. An intrepid bunch of experienced guides and keen trampers thoroughly enjoyed the steep ascent to Misery. The views were spectacular, each heart thumping step on the exposed track more than worth the effort.  

The V and Nena journeyed onto Toogelow Beach for a sup, surf and foil. Conditions weren’t all time but the scenery sure was! There was plenty of debris to be collected, so Mel and SP scoured the beach and were joined by the surfers.  Macro debris and some micro pieces soon filled the bags and were ferried out to the zodiacs by the wet suited surf crew. A few of the skippers took off in their zodiac to collect debris they’d spotted at Wallaby Beach and came back with a big haul of industrial sized ropes.

Rumours took a trip inland and the Celtic Rose stayed at anchor. The arvo was spent brilliantly with marine debris weaving, spoon carving, crib and game playing, reading and zoning out at the incredible scenery or listening to the tales, tall and true, of fellow team clean members.

The weather forecast looks like rain is on its way so there’s talk of another quiet day tomorrow before we can get back onto the ocean beaches and remove the ever rolling in debris.

 

Green Island Main south to Duckhole

After a gentle night of rolling on the waves and through our dreams we woke to some light clouds that burnt away as the sun rose over the beautiful south west.

The boats all convened at Green Island main to revisit the kelp and seaweed patch that has previously been the site of much slimy rope and plastics both macro and micro. Green Island didn't turn up any strange or unique items but of course small pieces of rope and plastic were picked up in the 100's and 1000s.

The final number collected was 4,291 which is less than other years but could be down to the fact that this beach has been regularly cleaned each year for some time. 

We then continued south around the rocks to Duck Hole. This was a beautiful walk and scramble along the edge of the island collecting all we could find along the way. The final count for this part of the coastline  was 2,186.  In 2018 we collected 38,100 from the same stretch of coastline.

Nye Bay then Mulcahy Bay

The west coast offered up a cooler, misty morning. It was not only atmospheric, it also made ideal conditions for a big day of scouring the beach for rubbish.

22 hardy souls were out beneath the bay’s big dunes with eyes peeled for rubbish of all kinds. There were big items – a blue plastic barrel that needed wheeling out – but much of the time was spent on hands and knees, sifting through sand that yielded much micro-plastic.

Some of the party added their footprints to those of Tassie devils, collecting debris to the far end of the beach and back. The whole team gladly returned to boats for a late lunch and then all boats travelled to Mulcahy Bay in beautiful afternoon light, scattering albatross and cormorants as we headed south.

Most of the clean-up crew devoted the arvo to creative activities: driftwood carving, basket-weaving, a music jam. Even with all that going on, some more rubbish was picked up from the south side of Alec Rivulet, and although a few unfortunate souls slipped into the drink, it’s been another successful and enjoyable day of the 2024 clean-up.

Daily Rubbish Total 8059