Triton X MCS Beach Clean 2024  

In June, a team of Triton volunteers ventured up to Talacre Beach in North Wales where they teamed up with the Marine Conservation Society for our first ever beach clean.   

 

 

Earlier this month, we celebrated World Environment Day and World Ocean Day by cleaning up the coastline with the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), an environmental charity devoted to protecting marine wildlife and ecosystems and encouraging sustainable management of marine resources, ultimately restoring the health of our ocean. The MCS adopts a proactive and all-encompassing approach to conservation by utilising scientific research, advocacy, education, and community engagement in order to address the prevailing crisis placed on our ocean by human actions. The MCS regularly organise beach cleans, Seaweed Search surveys, Scottish Education Roadshows, Seasearch surveys, Ocean Friendly school projects, as well as producing educational material like the Good Fish Guide (which advises people to make more sustainable fish choices) and taking active steps to shape government policies  

 

A team of 14 Triton volunteers travelled up to Talacre Beach in North Wales, where they spent the morning removing harmful pollutants from the beach, preventing their entry into the ocean and harm to marine wildlife and their ecosystems. Within the first hour, the Marine Conservation Society tasked our employees to record the items they found within a 100m stretch of the beach; everything from angling line to half a flipflop was removed and recorded. Of the 109 items found, over 60% of the items found originated from a public source, nearly 65% were composed of plastic or polystyrene, and 7% from metals. These statistics were drawn directly from the surveys our team completed within the first hour of the beach cleaning. After completing the survey, our volunteers took their search beach-wide, collecting and removing a combined total of 10kg of pollutants from Talacre Beach. 

 

After a much-deserved lunch in the Welsh sunshine, the MCS planned an afternoon of educational marine-based activities. The first challenge comprised matching a list of items commonly discovered in our ocean with the correct number of years they take to decay; our team made a commendable effort but were all very stunned by the length of time our litter stays in our ocean before it starts to decompose. Later activities saw our employees embrace their competitive spirit, as they broke into teams to complete a marine quiz and a treasure hunt.  

One of our volunteers Ellie commented on her experience: “This was my first beach clean with MCS and certainly won’t be my last! As an individual with keen sustainable interests, I enjoy being able to do my part in combat against climate change. It was really eye-opening to learn about the decomposition rates of items frequently found on our beaches and in our oceans- over 600 years for a fishing line!” 

 

Another one of our Triton volunteers who participated, Alex, had this to say - “I really enjoyed taking part in Triton's first-ever beach clean! The MCS were brilliant to work with and extremely knowledgeable. A day at the beach, in the sun, whilst learning about, and having a positive on the environment - it doesn't get much better than that!”   

 

Our volunteers all express their gratitude and thanks to the MCS for an insightful and educational day, one we hope to repeat in the near future. If you want to learn more about the Marine Conservation Society or take part in an upcoming beach clean, please visit https://www.mcsuk.org/