The annual Darwin Harbour Clean-up occurred in October for the 13th year, successfully removing 1.78 tonnes of debris from the harbour. A total of 17 sites around the harbour were thoroughly cleaned from the Wagait Beach to Casuarina, with the Larrakia Nation Rangers playing an integral part in the organisation of the event and overseeing the many groups cleaning on these sites.
Tangaroa Blue Foundation supported the Larrakia Nation Rangers with the data collection and the results showed that our top five items were metal bottle caps, hard plastic remnants, broken glass, plastic food packaging and aluminium cans. Due to much of this debris being originally land-based, the clean-up is integral in preventing the injection of the debris into the beautiful Darwin Harbour marine environment.
This is a rare and special event and to see many different industries working together for the common goal of marine debris prevention is a fantastic sign that awareness of this global issue is coming to the surface. Combining industry with community effort has allowed the major success of this event for over a decade and sets a benchmark for clean-ups around Australia.
Tangaroa Blue would like to thank all participants, the Darwin community, industry partners, and the Larrakia Rangers for their tremendous endeavour.
