Hi Clean Coasts Group,
Even though we were forced to take a break with our in person events and beach clean activities, a lot has happened in May.
We have been continuously looking at opportunities and alternative ways of engaging and educating our communities, sharing stories, ideas and in some small way bringing the coast to those who can’t get there at the moment.
Keep reading to find out about what we have been up to for the past month and what projects we have planned for the future.
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| We are working on a plan to get back out to our coast again |
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In March, in light of government announcements, we asked our volunteers to suspend all clean-ups activities. This was to ensure the safety of all volunteers and avoid risks related to Covid-19 coming from being in contact with other people, but also touching surfaces and litter without the appropriate precautions.
Bear with us, while we are working on a plan to be able to go back to doing beach cleans from 8th June. In the meantime, would you do a #2minutebeachclean the next time you are at your local beach?
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| If you are doing a #2minutebeachclean… |
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If you are doing a #2minutebeachclean, please remember to stay safe.
Here are some guidelines:
🌊Keep within your 5km radius
🌊Keep a 2m distance from other people that do not live with you
🌊Do not collect any discarded PPE items or tissues
🌊Always wash your hands and avoid touching your face
🌊Do not share your clean-up kit and wash it before and after you use it
🌊Avoid crowded places, even if outdoors
🌊Always pop your litter in the bin. If the nearest bin is full, however, remember to bring the litter you collected at home to dispose of it correctly, as local authorities are under great pressure at the moment
🌊Why not use a reusable tote bag (and wash it before an after)?!
🌊We recommend only to collect identifiable long lying marine litter such as ropes, old plastic etc. We do not recommend collection of short lying or recently discarded litter.
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| What’s the weirdest thing you have ever found on a beach clean? Have you ever found something but had no idea what it was?
On Wednesday, 3rd June 2020, join some of the beachcombers from the east and west of Ireland for a virtual chat and discussion about what is washing up our on shores.
Our speakers – Rosemary Hill, Sean Ferguson & Ms Joan Conaghy – will talk about beach combing and will go through some of the most beautiful and weirdest things they have come across. |
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Still wondering about Jellyfish?
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If you missed our Zoom Talk about Irish jellyfish, you can watch it again above.
During the talk we learnt to distinguish between the different types such as the lion’s mane, the compass and the Portuguese man o war; we learnt about their sting, their jelly bits and their unusual life cycle; and we learnt about the important roles that they play in our coastal seas. Tom also answered some of the attendees questions. Tom is a marine biologist and lecturer in zoology at University College Cork. He has studied jellyfish for 17 years and is now a world leading expert in his field.
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Put your marine knowledge to the test
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Join us for our Marine Virtual Quiz every Thursday at 7:30 pm!
The quiz lasts approximately 30 minutes and it’s great fun for adults and kids – it’s a great way to show off your knowledge and learn about our amazing Irish coastline, heritage, marine life, and much more
All you need to do to take part is tune in our Facebook Live on the day. Check out our Facebook page to see videos from previous quiz nights we have already organised. |
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Here is a video of our latest virtual quiz!
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Minibeasts of the seashore
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Earlier this month we hosted another virtual event, Minibeasts of the seashore, as part of our Roadshow series.
You can watch a video of our interactive Zoom conversation with marine biologist Lucy Taylor, who gave us tips on identifying common, and not so common creatures found on Ireland’s foreshore.
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How does climate change impact coastal heritage?
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How does climate change impact coastal heritage? As part of our Roadshow Series, we hosted another virtual talk with Sandra Henry from the CHERISH Project.
If you missed this interesting discussion earlier this month, you can watch it again above.
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Marine litter…explained in 1 minute!
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What is marine litter? What are plastic gyres? How does plastic impact marine wildlife?
This month Clean Coasts premiered the Marine Litter Series,a series of 1 minute explainer videos to briefly talk about these issue.
Check out the full series, by clicking on the link below!
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| What benefits does Clean Coasts bring to your community? |
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| We asked volunteers around Ireland what benefits Clean Coasts brings to their community. Watch the video above to find out what they told us. |
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A couple of weeks ago, Ray, one of our Clean Coasts officers, was so lucky to get to swim with basking sharks. “It really made me think about how important the work that Clean Coasts and more importantly, Clean Coasts volunteers do.”
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Alison Grealy and Aisling Hughes told us in this post what being part of the Water Ambassador programme means to them – all the activities they carried out through the programme, the campaign the organised and how they are spreding the word on the importnance to protect our waterways.
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Rosemary, a Clean Coasts volunteers, collected 2kg of bottlecaps and shotgun cartridges on her first visit to her local beach within her 5km. “I’m just filling one of my cotton Clean Coasts beach bags at a time now and putting the rubbish in our own wheelie bin until things get more back to normal.” She told us.
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Well done to these volunteers from Coast Cleaners – Mayo. After the storm had uncovered a lot of marine litter, they decided to take advantage of the sunshine to do a beach clean – all within their 5km and keeping Social Distance!
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Do you have a coastal story?
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The Clean Coasts Blog is a collection of stories that touches on the experience of Clean Coasts staff and the coast. There stories vary from finding fossils on Sligo beaches to their experience of cold water swimming. We would love to hear your stories which will be showcased on our social media platforms and website. If you have a story to share or would like to write a piece on becoming a Clean Coasts group or any other experience you would like to share. please let us know. We are looking for short pieces using your own voice.
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