Izzy Ross, Author at Tangaroa Blue Foundation

Navigating Island Health in the Coral Sea Marine Park

Cruising between the cays and islets of the Coral Sea Marine Park for 21 days may sound like a breeze, but the team involved in this important expedition returned with much more than holiday snaps. The aim of the trip was to evaluate island health in the region by conducting terrestrial flora and fauna surveys, seabird monitoring, pest species assessments and marine debris surveys. Led by Parks Australia, the Coral Sea Marine Park Island Health Voyage embarked off the coast

5 September 2022

Join ReefClean’s 2022 Great Barrier Reef Clean-up!

Join ReefClean’s Great Barrier Reef Clean-up! Are you a citizen scientist who is concerned about the health of the Great Barrier Reef? Maybe a school or community group who would like to monitor the health of the Great Barrier Reef? Or are you a member of the local government, and would like to lead by example by becoming actively involved in contributing to the overall health of one of the most biologically diverse environments on this planet? Well then continue

5 September 2022

8.2 Tonnes of Debris Removed From World Heritage Listed Site

4WD Queensland volunteers held their annual Fraser Island (K’Gari) Clean Up in late May, marking 21 years since the event was first established. This year an astonishing 8.2 tonnes of debris was removed over the two days, which is 2 tonnes more than last year. These incredible results were achieved by 751 participants, who attended in 350 vehicles representing 23 affiliated 4WD clubs from all over southeast Queensland. The enthusiastic crew were faced with strong winds, heavy rain and foggy

5 September 2022

WA Beach Clean-Up Volunteer Registration Form

Thanks for your interest in volunteering for an event. As people register their clean-up sites, a statewide map of sites will be populated with coordinator contact information so you can link up with those in your area.

5 September 2022

The 2021 WA Beach Clean-up Report is here!

The 2021 Western Australia Beach Clean-up Report summarises the state-wide clean-ups from Tangaroa Blue Foundations’ annual event. Over 90 organisations, volunteer groups, community members and businesses joined in the 2021 Western Australian Beach Clean-up. At 100 events, over 3 tonnes of debris wasremoved by 1,439 volunteers over 3,800 hours and 214 kilometres. While fewer events were held in 2021 than 2020 and 2019, more volunteers contributed to the event and collected a larger weight of debris over a greater distance.

5 September 2022

Important Safety Reminder – Dangerous Items

In recent weeks, there have been several reports of silver canisters being found during beach clean-ups. These items are considered extremely dangerous and must be reported immediately by calling 000. These canisters are filled with aluminium phosphide, a toxic combination of chemicals that are fatal to ingest or inhale. One of the most concerning aspects of these canisters is that they have no label, and for the curious mind they are tempting to pick up. The most recent sighting was

5 September 2022

Contribute to EcoBrick research

The Tangaroa Blue team have been finding a number of EcoBricks washing up along the Australian coast over the past few years. For those of you who don’t know, EcoBricks are PET bottles packed solid with clean and dry used plastic. EcoBricks are made manually to a set density to sequester plastic and create reusable building blocks. In this way EcoBricks aim to contribute to a circular economy, especially in countries where plastic litter is easy to find so it

5 September 2022

Monitoring methodologies to standardise citizen science data

In an Australian first, the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI) has released monitoring protocols for litter and marine debris. These proven methodologies have been developed in collaboration with experts from UNSW, UTAS, SCU, MU as well as the Tangaroa Blue Foundation data team. They offer a standardised approach for citizen scientists collecting this important data on a national scale.

5 September 2022

NT proposes ban on helium balloons in Australian first

Thanks to the tireless efforts and lobbying from conservation partners, community organisations and the general public, 7 out of 8 Australian states and territories have now pledged to end single-use plastics. The types of plastics vary slightly from jurisdictions, but any step to remove millions of plastic items from ending up in either landfill or our oceans is a step in the right direction. Most recently (2022) the Northern Territory joined the list, releasing their NT Circular Economy Strategy 2022-2027

5 September 2022

Global Plastic Pollution Agreement: A historic moment

Did anyone else get a little emotional watching the video as the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) reached a resolution to create an intergovernmental committee to negotiate and finalise a global treaty on the plastics crisis by 2024? More than 100 countries attended the UNEA summit- either in person or virtually in Nairobi, Kenya. The United Nations have described this landmark announcement as “the most significant green deal since the 2015 Paris climate agreement” and have also stated the need

5 September 2022

Author: Izzy Ross