Beach Clean Review 2014

Overview

Location: Half Moon Bay, Heysham

Cleaned annually by the Lancaster and Morecambe Soroptimists since 1999

Cleaned quarterly by the Lancashire MCS since 2007

Every piece of litter is recorded, picked up, and weighed

Results get sent to MCS as part of their national Beachwatch scheme

Where their source (visitors, shipping, fly-tipping, sewage etc) gets analysed and recorded

This Year

Clean-ups in December, March, June, September

A total of 4000 square metres cleaned

by 43 volunteers

who collected 17 sacks of litter, weighing 44 kg

December Highlights

Major storms had damaged the sea defences

We found more cotton bud sticks than the rest of the year combined

The large amount of rubbish in general was probably due to the storms

March Highlights

Unusual items included bitumen- possibly caulking from a boat

We also found plastic pellets- possibly raw packing materials

June Highlights

We combined the beach clean with an evening walk to Heysham Chapel and a meal at the pub

We found our only disposable BBQ of the year

Generally we found more litter over a small area- due to an increase in beach visitors

September Highlights

Our best turn out of the year- 14 people and 300m length cleaned

We found a lot of drinks cans- presumably from Summer parties

Thanks to the Soroptimists (mainly Sandra Moon) for organising

Some basic thoughts

We have found less cotton bud sticks this year- these used to appear in the 100s in every survey

We have found more syringes this year than in all previous years combined!

In general the beach has been quite clean, suggesting either the council are cleaning it, or some other group

The biggest sources of litter are beach visitors, followed by sewage-related debris and shipping

The cafe does not seem to contribute overly to the amount of litter on the beach

Big thanks to everyone who has volunteered

We couldn't have done it without you!

Next Survey

Saturday 6th December, 2pm

See you there!