DAY 7 -  From Spain Bay to Stephens

We started our day in Schooner cove, and during a slow morning of getting ready for beach cleaning we said goodbye to our amazing team member Alice, who headed up to Melaleuca to fly back to Hobart. We had a quick steam around to Spain Bay, a beach at the southern side of the entrance to Port Davey. We cleaned up the lovely campsite at Spain bay, gathering up a large pile of rubbish from between the tea trees that walkers and campers had already collected. We then began the 30-minute walk over the headland to Stephens beach – a spectacular hike with panoramic views of button grass plains, islands, beaches and mountains, right down to Southwest cape!

Again, we found a large pile of rubbish that had been stashed at the campsite by walkers. This was a refreshing and comforting reminder that there are so many people that care about this wild and beautiful land. 

 We hoofed it to the end of the beach with the intention of combing our way back through, meanwhile taking in the incredible views that spanned in every direction. By far the most powerful part of this vast landscape was the massive dunes, and the cultural living sites that were scattered throughout. They glittered with huge abalone shells and stripy warreners, a consistent reminder in the landscape of human life – fun, laughter, families and thousands of years of connection to place. It became evident early on in our endless scour for plastics that many of our targets were within and around these sacred sites. There is a stark contrast between tens of thousands of years and countless generations worth of human gatherings, to an omnipresent layer of 8,182 plastic flakes, rope fragments and bottles that have been only 2 generations in the making and drifted in from distant sources. The humans that produced this waste have likely never stepped foot on these beaches. If there were any evidence that we need to focus on our sustainability on this earth, this is it. 

After an 8m swell and a few days of rain, we didn’t find as much rubbish as expected – likely having been buried deeper into the sand or washed back out to sea. 

We made our way back across the sunny headland, lugging all the bags of rubbish over the headland to begin the count on Rumours – mostly made up of tiny micro-plastics and small rope fragments. After a long day of walking in the wind and sun, we were treated to a beautifully made dinner and a specky mountain sunset, ready to do it all again tomorrow! 

Words by Ruth and Clare

Pics by Lee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bramble Scramble

Day 6!

 

Three days in and I thought time had stood still. Now I’m afraid it’s coming to an end all too quickly. We headed to Bramble Cove this morning after a beautiful drizzly sunrise — a beach inside Port Davey — somewhere you wouldn’t think the toxic plastic crap would have reached, but there it was, on mass, although this time it was small, tiny in fact. The rope had broken down to tiny individual strands, 0.2 of millimetre strands spread everywhere. This is what I set my sights on collecting, and once I had my eye in it had found its way into every tiny corner of everything, sponges, wrapped around seaweed, rocks, sticks big and small, Neptune’s necklace (a type of kelp). The variety of kelp matched the variety of micro plastic (think of fairy bread filled with hundreds and thousands and you’ll get the idea). We made the most of it though, had some music playing and we found a groove that allowed us to settle in and focus on a patch and sit there for 3 hours in one square metre filling a small plastic bag with thousands of plastic pieces. Then back to the big boats that were rafted up in Schooner Cove where we were taking refuge from the 70kmh winds and an 8m rolling swell. One group set out to find surf for the afternoon while the others stayed behind, carved spoons and jammed. Our surfing crew had to cross the Breaksea islands to get to Earle Point where we surfed. With the backdrop of Erskine range and Mount Stokes, in this lost world we felt right at home, catching our breath in this awe-inspiring wonder. The natural beauty of the remoteness of the southwest reminded me of how crazy it was to see so many fine particles of plastic and yet how humbling it was to be able to be here and be a part of this mammoth effort to remove, collate and reference all this waste.   

 

Back at the boat a group of crew stuck around to settle into the afternoon sunshine. It seems that once one of our musicians picks up their instrument, it isn’t long until the full band is in swing. Fully amped up, with nothing less than a full drumkit and the beautiful mountain range in the background, this has got to be one of the rarest gigs to play in the southern hemisphere. 

9196 items collected, classified and counted on a wild cloud sunset.

 

Words by Stu and Alice.

Photo by Jimmy. 

Whittling in the wind

DAY 5   Davey lay day

 

Awoke to the sound of the wind chop slapping away at the hull, along with some moans and groans from the team after what had been a large few days of rolling around the south-west picking up rubbish. We had arrived in the sheltered waters of the Bathurst Channel, knowing of the fast-approaching wintery gale to the west. For many sailors, fisherman and seafarers alike, the surrounds of Port Davey have been all too familiar, being the only safe haven within 200 miles of coastline to sit out a storm. It also happens to be one of the most truly beautiful places in the world, one of those areas that will leave you completely wide-eyed with a grin as wide as an untouched horizon. To have a safe haven to shelter from the roaring 40’s, within truly wild and rugged country, radiates this feeling in you that can only be experienced. It is as if the landscape is there for you like an old friend who’ll always be there when you need. 

 

To be able to have the opportunity to help this old friend of ours, the south-west, by cleaning up her untouched beaches and coastlines, is something that is truly special. So when the crew rolled out of their bunks to the bullets of wind rolling through Schooner Cove, it was nice to feel safe under the presence of ancient mountains and (relatively) sheltered waters. 

 

With the weather being far from motivating, the crew had a rather slow start too it. It might have had something to do with the cold Moo Brews and live music rolling into the night, but we’ll leave it down to the wintery weather. Despite what was looking to be a lay day tucked in Schooner, the crew wasted no time and got stuck into a yoga session on the deck of the Celtic Rose aimed at limbering up tight muscles we’d acquired whist digging fishing nets out of wet sand. A mean breakfast cook up, a couple of chilly dips in the black tannin waters and books in the patchy sun took us through the rest of the morning. To keep the cabin fever from setting in, Stu pulled out some lumps of driftwood and whittling tools to keep us all entertained for the afternoon. Wafts of aromatic Tasmanian timbers drifted around in the swirling wind whilst trinkets and tools were carved out of timbers that had thought they’d seen their end on a desolate western facing beach. 

 

We proudly cooked and served dinner with new salad spoons and spatulas feeling very accomplished for a lay day in the wind. All rested, energised, and ready for some more beach combing, we head into tomorrow due for large swells and lights winds, allowing as to tackle some of the outer fringed beaches of Port Davey.

Words by Oscar. 

Photo by Lee.

 

 

Miscellaneous Debris

DAY 4 — Mulcahy to Schooner Cove 

 

The crew woke up to some serious rocking and rolling this morning in Mulcahy Bay. Any early morning risers were rewarded by a pod of 100 dolphins at 6 am. We set off towards Wreck Beach where Harry, Ula and Gerhard managed to grab a beautiful little surf before the cleaning started. The overcast sky threatened rain, and the crew debated the state of the weather before we set off in the dingy. Halfway to the beach, the downpour started, leaving us soaked before we even set foot on the beach. Luckily, this first downpour of many for the day didn’t last too long. 

 

The first section of beach was relatively clean, a welcome sight from previous days. As we worked our way further down, we occupied ourselves with the tedious job of collecting microplastics. Once we arrived at the first riverbed, we were met by a pile of our regular finds, with lots of nets and ropes to be pulled out of the sand. 

 

As we made our way along the beach, the tide was low enough to show the top of the Svenor Shipwreck. The Svenor had caught fire in the Bass Straight, all crew abandoned ship, and it found its final resting place where it lies today. Pied oyster catchers scurrying along the beach were another gem along the way. 

 

It wasn’t long before the rain started again, leaving us all soaked to the bone. As the weather turned, we hurried to finish our last stretch of beach before hiking back to our starting point for pickup. As we trekked back, we collected the piles of debris we had left along the way, including 3 tyres, the big find for today. 

 

The crews boarded their respective boats and we set off towards Schooner Cove in Port Davey. The Celtic Rose spotted a trawl net on the way, which required a quick turnaround and all hands-on deck to pull out of the water. As we steamed closer to Port Davey we were met by the majestic scenery. 

Once we were safely sheltered in Schooner Cove, we rafted all four boats together for our count and to be treated to some delicious food. On Velocity, Masaaki prepared sashimi for the crew, caught fresh on the first day. Next along the line of rafted boats, the Celtic Rose hosted our ever-evolving live-aboard band, ‘Miscellaneous Debris’, who serenaded us with some catchy tunes. Rumours cooked up some crayfish toasties with Masaaki’s special recipe as an appetizer. Last along the line was the Nena where some were found doing yoga. 

 

We regrouped to help sort and count the debris. In total, we counted 6,821 pieces, approximately 80% of which was plastic.

 

Blog by Mandy and Kianna. Photos by Lee. 

 

DAY 3

The Damned Creek

 

Hard to prepare for the mountains of rubbish we encountered in Endeavour Bay today, a beach that had never been visited by Team Clean. Matt had done a fly over but hadn’t fully identified the hidden, buried and sludge-filled debris that awaited us in the creek.

 

Initially we dispersed along the beach, after our steam down from the shelter of Hibbs Pyramid, up into the camp site and northern creek to begin scouring while Matt and Masaki went on ahead to scout the southern end. Soon word got back that we needed to meet in the southern creek to begin the mammoth task of clearing decades of ropes, buoys, fish bins, water bottles, food containers, bait savers, bait straps and random pieces of broken-down plastic. 

 

It was a devastating sight. Years of wild weather had tangled ropes that clogged the creek, damming up the flow and then creating catch points to trap newer layers of rope, to be layered over by sludge, vegetation and driftwood. 

 

 

Teams and pairs got knee deep in sludge pulling at ropes only to find they were buried metres underground, requiring tenacious effort to free them. Dozens of lengths of cray ropes, estimated to be 80 meters in length, were coiled and tangled amongst the driftwood. We worked for hours in the heat, dodging and swatting marsh flies, and steering clear of snakes in the cutting grass.

 

Amongst the debris were the largest whale bones any of the veteran cleaners had seen. A vertebra about a metre across and approx. 40-cm deep was lodged deep in the dammed creek. A jawbone along the beach disappeared deep into the sand with another 4-meter whale bone not far away. A white, organic, oily, mass on the rocks was possibly baleen. Speculation about the species was rife. 

 

Despondent team cleaners took a well-earned break for lunch delighting in a swim and soak in the natural spa pools in the rocks. Refreshed and ready to finish this massive job, we tackled the last of the buried ropes and got it all bagged up. The plan for this load was to pack it into large bags that’ll be helicoptered out, saving us the back-breaking work of hauling it up the beach and loading it onto the dingy to be ferried out to the boats. Five x 2 cubic meter bulka-bags now wait for a pickup next month.

 

In the history of the clean-up, we’ve never left rubbish behind to be collected by a helicopter. A few dozen bags were carried back to the boats with micro plastics and small ropes collected on the final sweep of the beach and campsites. It was sweet relief to know our counting session would be short and potentially finished before dinner. A long, exhausting day wasn’t going to seep long into the night. 

 

We returned to our respective boats, unpacked, packed and met onboard the Velocity for the hectic count as we steamed to The Mulcahy. What fun, a moving boat, a mess of rubbish on deck and a reduced count. Final count on Velocity was 1,172 small and micro pieces. 

 

Arriving in The Mulcahy we soon had a sumptuous dinner prepared by our in-house chef Masaaki and his eager helpers. Fresh seafood caught by our skippers and prepared so expertly is such a treat. A huge thank you to all our sponsors for keeping us so well supplied. It’s hungry work and there’s nothing better at the end of the day than kicking back, well fed and happy to have left the beach in a much better state than we found it in. 

 

 

Fishnets and chill

DAY 1 

Southport to The Shank

 

Southport Wharf was a hive of activity in the early morning light. The crew who’d arrived early the night before with supplies, were up and ready to meet those coming south.  After more than a few minutes waiting at the newly installed Southport traffic lights, and a heavy tanker blocking the wharf entrance, we finally loaded the last of the supplies and stragglers and were ready for departure.

 

Nena, Velocity, Rumours and The Celtic Rose each steamed out from the wharf to start the 12-hour trip around the South-West Cape and beyond….

 

With a week of hard work and heavy lifting ahead of us, it didn’t stop us from feeling blessed and excited. To witness the wild south-west coast from this vantage point is a true wonder.  We were joined by a pod of bottle nose dolphins, who rode the waves on the bow for a good half hour.  The shy albatross, glided over the waves and the crew lost count of the other native birds as stormy petrels, common diving petrels, crested turns and sooty shearwaters gave us much to watch and admire.

 

The original plan was to hit Hibbs Pyramid but after a long day at the helm, with a few of us battling the green swell building inside, we found a sheltered anchorage through the maze of rocks that make up The Shank.  

 

The crew of Rumours lay warm and happy in the dining room, enjoying its first family dinner for the trip as the Nena dropped its anchor to give poor old Harry and Uls a good night’s rest after a rough day.

 

We spent the night rocking gently at anchorage, getting well rested ahead of tomorrow’s big day…

 

DAY 2

 

After Velocity and Celtic Rose steamed on to anchor at Hibbs Pyramid late last night, it was Rumours and Nena who arrived to find the rest of the team ashore and busy filling bags of this week’s bounty.

 

With sunshine and squalls lashing the coast, the team busied themselves pulling piles of trash and rope from the beach and rock faces.  It’s amazing how absorbed one can get when plucking micro-plastics from crevices.  With many old hands and a few new ones, everyone was occupied fillings bags and meeting new friends.

 

It was a mixture of sadness and pleasure, as we hauled trash from one end of the beach to the other.  The sadness coming from the sheer volume of trash that appeared in front of us. But one-by-one, the pieces went from beach-to-bag and our spirits rose.

 

A few of us set about the heavy lifting of several large lengths of poly pipe, adrift from one of the so-called sustainable fish-farms.  That combined with the mass of fish-net pieces and rope, had some of us wondering about the unseen affect these industries have on our vulnerable coastlines.

 

By 3pm we’d filled 25 bulka-bags and had to tackle the waves and winds to get the trash aboard the boats and ready for sorting and counting.  It was a monumental amount of plastics and waste that lay on the deck of Rumours, as us newbies were given the low-down on counting and classification of the trash.

 

It was a good 3-4 hours of busy sorting and sifting through tangles of rope for some, while others were zoned-in counting their share of bottles, fish-nets, stimi’s, tubs, floats and a seemingly endless variety of litter.  In total we picked up 7,502 individual pieces of trash before it was broken down, ending up in the oceans and food we eat.

 

The day was celebrated with a team dinner aboard Rumours, with a bounty of fresh fish and crays brought aboard by the crew.  As the sun set and a cold beer was cracked, a few over-enthusiastic scallywags scaled Hibbs Pyramid to enjoy the vista back over the coast to Frenchman’s and beyond.

 

Tomorrow will bring another big day of waste collection and with it, no doubt, many more laughs.

Words by Jimmy. Photos by Ula and Dan.

2023 Cleanup Preparations

Team Clean are once again venturing into the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area for a spot of beachcombing. Departure date has been set for the 15th of February and the team is hoping to make it to a stretch of previously uncleaned coastline. The team have been eyeing off this area for a few years now but another brilliant crowdfunding effort from Ula and some funding from NRM south has meant that weather permitting all of the crew except for Dave and Matt will for the first time experience a previously uncleaned coastline.  

This 100 km of coastline has been surveyed photographically from the air in joint project between UTAS,  NRM South, the Marine Branch of NRE (looking for fishing derived rubbish) and some structural Geologists from Mineral Resources Tasmania (trying to piece together the geological history of Tasmania). Judging by the resulting photography we will have our hands and boats full if the weather lets us access the beaches.