Galway Bay from the bottom up!
Welcome to the main page for Marine Institute activities and support services in Galway during the Volvo Ocean Race Stopover.
The Directors and staff of the Marine Institute are delighted to welcome the Volvo ocean racers and all other visitors to our "home port" of Galway and wish you all an exciting, safe and fun-filled visit.
Photos showing debri before and after the beach clean up
The beach clean at Rinville, held last Friday (15th May), has been pronounced a ‘resounding success’ and a ‘very worthwhile way to spend an afternoon’ by organisers and volunteers.
Over 30 volunteers took part in the Rinville Beach clean up, and removed a full skip of rubbish over the course of 3 hours.The cleanup brought together members of Galway Dive Club, Galway Sailing Club and staff of the Marine Institute, all of whom braved the Galway rain and 'refreshing' westerly wind to make a difference to their local environment.
Amongst the more ‘exotic’ items found were a number of spent shotgun shells, a total of five old car tyres and a household table - which had broken in two halves. The most common item found was a type of green nylon rope and a vast amount of everyday items, such as empty food packets, bottle lids and small pieces of broken plastic from containers.
Members of the Galway Dive Club participated in the under water coastal clean up in Rinville Bay. Declan Derrane, organiser of the dives, said it was a very educational weekend in relation to the quantity of rubbish found under the water and was delighted to report that only a hand full of items were found.
Francis O'Biern, co-ordinator of the Rinville beach clean up, explained that Rinville Bay has a bottle neck at its entrance and with prevailing winds in the area litter from the ocean is swept onto the shore - with no place to go.
The original Beachwatch survey and clean-up scheme originated in the UK, and is run by the Marine Conservation Society. Since 1993 a dedicated team of volunteers has removed countless items of litter from beaches nationwide and undertaken a detailed survey of the types and quantities of litter.
Galway Atlantaquaria has supported the event for the past four years, undertaking a survey and beach clean-up of Salthill beaches. All of the information recorded is used to generate a detailed report on the state of our beaches and the dramatic increase of litter on our shores.
The staff of the Marine Institute would like to thank Galway County Council, Galway Bay Sailing Club, Galway Dive Club and to all of those that volunteered their time and resources to contribute to their local marine environment and to support Ireland’s coastal image on the world stage.
In the Galway beach clean up over 49 bags of rubbish were collected from Ballyloughane to Silverstrand, whilst a full skip was collected from Rinville Beach in Oranmore.
As a token of appreciation, Galway Atlantaquaria and the Marine Institute presented model yachts to various Schools and Community Leaders in recognition of the contribution made to their local marine environment.
As Michael Coyle CEO of Galway Chamber of Commerce, who was in attendance stated ” this is the spirit that will ensure we have a very successful two weeks here during the stop over in Galway, meet the challenge head-on and achieve the objective”.
The support of the various groups and individuals were acknowledged including Galway Gounty Council, Galway City Council, Galway Dive Club, Galway Sailing Club, Galway Sub Aqua Club, Dr. Sarah Knight of NUIG, Brendan Smith of DERI and Dr. Noirin Burke of the Explorers Education Programme.
The Marine Institute welcomes all visitors to Galway over the period of the Volvo Ocean Race and wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable visit.
Litter has a big impact on our shores, both above and below the water.
Here are just some of the ways that litter can impact on our shorelines and the marine environment in general (taken from Ocean Conservancy, International Coastal Cleanup Report 2009);
- Broken shards of glass injure beachgoers, children and our pets.
- Litter weakens economies because it impacts on our seafood industries.
- Litter is an eyesore, discouraging tourism.
- Animals such as seabirds, turtles and dolphins choke or become poisoned when they eat litter that isn’t suitable, and drown when they become entangled in bags, ropes, and old fishing gear.
- Sessile organisms, that is, ones that cannot run away, are also at risk from marine litter. In one study a fifth of total weight of debris in ‘lost’ nets was found to be pieces of coral the nets had broken off and scooped up.
- Plastic takes a really long time to break down. It can enter the food-chain when animals, such as barnacles, sieve the water for food.
- Toxic substances, from leaking batteries and other litter, can cause serious Illness to recreational users such as surfers as well as polluting the marine environment.
- Marine debris makes the sea ‘ill’ and reduces its ability to adapt to climate change.
- Debris such as old fishing lines can tangle boat propellers and cause serious damage.
BUT, there are lots of things we can do to help stop marine debris.
See below for a list of simple, easy everyday steps that you can take to help stop the tide of marine litter. Why not adopt one of them today?
- Take it with you when you leave! The main way litter ends up in the sea is from recreational activities at the beach or shore. Put trash in a secure, lidded receptacle—there’s no point placing it in a bin if the lid is off and it is blowing an Irish gale!
- Educate yourself! What are your local recycling options? If you don’t know then how will you use them! County council websites and leaflets from other organisations can be great sources of information.
- Educate others! Stop debris at the source! Talk to your friends / family about marine litter. Explain to them why they should not litter and the damage it can do. Maybe they don’t know what happens. By explaining, you are giving them the information they need to do the right thing.
- Reduce: Buy items with less packaging. For example, buy loose apples instead of packaged ones. They are generally cheaper, and you get to choose which ones you like!
- Reuse: reuse packaging and household items everyday. This reduces the amount of litter produced, as well as being good for your pocket and interesting for children!
- Recycle! The more we recycle, the less waste there is in the first place. Volunteer for Beachwatch ‘09 or for Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup, both of which are held in September. Go to www.coastalcleanup.org and www.nationalaquarium.ie for more information.
- Support local marine groups and/or organizations by donating your time, expertise or money. You can make a difference. Write to your elected officials and encourage them to support policies on marine litter and marine environmental protection. When boating, bring your oil cans, food wrappers, fruit peelings and cigarette butts back to shore. and finally….
- Put cigarette butts in ashtrays - not on streets, paths, or beaches. The most common form of marine litter found on beaches worldwide in 2009 was cigarettes and cigarette filters.
Each year Ocean Conservancy, with the help of sponsors, organizers and volunteers, clean up seashores and waterways in places as far apart as Ireland and New Zealand. Volunteer cleanup crews tally every single item they recover, right down to small plastic pellets. Each item is logged on a data card and these are submitted to Ocean Conservancy.
Better data means better decision-making and the resulting Marine Debris report helps to identify sources of marine debris. Basically, knowing where litter comes from makes it easier to stop in the first place!
This year's cleanup marked the 23rd annual clean up, with 390,881 volunteers taking part in 104 countries worldwide. They collected an astonishing 6.8 million pounds (485 714 stone, 3 084 428 kg) of debris, the equivalent of 17 pounds (1.21 stone, 7.71kg) for every participant.
Plastic Bags, accounting for 12% of the total marine litter, were the second most common form of marine litter collected worldwide in the cleanup. Although participation in the clean up by Irish people was quite low (just 96 people), Ireland had one of the lowest percentages of plastic bag litter, made up of just 0.75% of the total debris.
Compare that to the percentages for other countries, such as the UK (8%), Jamaica (11%) and the Philippines (over 55%), and you begin to understand just how good our result was. It is highly likely that the plastic bag levy has a connection to this as after the levy was introduced, single-use disposal bag consumption dropped by more than 90 percent.
Table 1: Showing total estimated percentage of marine debris collected that was composed of plastic bags, by country.
|
Country |
Volunteers Involved |
Total pieces of debris collected by volunteers over a weekend in September 2008 |
Number of plastic bags |
Plastic bags as a percentage of total debris |
|
Ireland |
96 |
8,891 |
67 |
0.753 |
|
France |
110 |
1,474 |
43 |
2.917 |
|
Japan |
13,887 |
76,070 |
5,424 |
7.130 |
|
UK |
5,830 |
104,267 |
8,440 |
8.094 |
|
New Zealand |
247 |
3,696 |
365 |
9.875 |
|
Puerto Rico |
8,637 |
245,664 |
24,641 |
10.03 |
|
Jamaica |
1,812 |
137,407 |
15,153 |
11.027 |
|
Portugal |
153 |
1,448 |
198 |
13.674 |
|
Nigerial |
429 |
945,434 |
155,274 |
16.423 |
|
Phillipines |
37,728 |
1,235,163 |
679,957 |
55.049 |
FACTS ABOUT BEACH LITTER
- Cigarettes/Cigarette Filters were the most numerous form of litter removed in the cleanup and accounted for 28% of the total marine litter removed by the Cleanup crews. ·
- The largest overall source of debris was Shoreline and Recreational Activities, which accounted for 61 percent of all debris items. ·
- A look back at the past five years of data shows that the top ten debris items have remained the same over time and Shoreline and Recreational Activities held their position as the top source of marine debris. ·
- Volunteers discovered 443 animals and birds entangled or trapped by marine debris, of which 268 were found alive and released. Fish, including sharks, stingrays, and seahorses, were the most prevalent (44 percent);
- Fishing-related items, including line, nets, rope, hooks, and crab/lobster/fish traps, accounted for the most entanglements: 69 percent, or three of every five animals found.
- Scientists recently found a dead sperm whale with 440 pounds of fishing gear in its stomach.
- Researchers off the coast of Newfoundland, retrieved ten lost nets that in six months had accumulated 20,000 cod, a species already on the brink of collapse.