Western Way
The first event was a dryish clean but we still ended up in the mud at Western Way, Pembroke Dock where the group supported the Keep Wales Tidy “Pride in our Communities” campaign. This saw the group remove in excess of twenty trolleys, a motorbike and various road work barriers from an area which is used by families for picnics or to play in the nearby playground. The group received assistance from P.E.A.T.
Dublin Seminar
The second event, saw the group attend a seminar in Dublin put on by An Taisce. The group gave a talk on Marine litter and what we have done to try and combat the problem here in Wales .The group was well received and thanked for attending the event .As a lot of the attendees were experienced beach cleaners but had not thought about the rubbish that stays on the sea bed.
River Cleddau
Next up for the group was a clean up on a stretch of the River Cleddau in the centre of Haverfordwest, we removed Shopping Trolleys, Pushbikes, Scooters, and various other rubbish. The group were assisted by the local Kayak Club and H.I.T.
Skomer MNR
The group did’nt do any proper underwater clean-ups till June due to adverse weather conditions, although we did carry out 3 clean ups during the month. The first of these was performed in the Skomer Marine Nature Reserve on the 2nd of June at a site near to Martin’s Haven. We feel very fortunate to dive here in what is one of only three Marine Nature Reserves in the U.K. .The group here removed mainly lost Angling Equipment we also found a few lots and smashed up Lobster pots.
Stackpole and Hobbs Point
The other clean-ups carried out by the group in June were done to support Keep Wales Tidy Wales Week. The clean up sites were Hobbs Point on the 22nd of June and Stackpole Quay on the 30th. At Hobbs Point you just never what has been dumped there and on this occasion the group removed the usual Shopping Trolley’s but also a washing machine, car radiator, push bikes, scooters etc. At Stackpole Quay we collected mainly lost fishing equipment. It was a good effort,considering the weather did’nt stop raining the whole time.
Fishguard
In July we carried out a weekend clean up in Fishguard chartering a boat from Mark Deane & Celtic Diving. During the weekend we found quite a lot of lost Commercial Fishing Equipment, which we gave back to a few local Fishermen. On the second day we did a pleasure dive on the wreck of the Vendome.
Skomer MNR
The next clean up was at the end of July which saw us return to the reserve and do a clean up near Martins Haven. The group used a Charter boat from Broadside Charters. After the clean up the Chairman of the goup with his local dive knowledge of Skomer thought he d show them a lovely dive site on the South of Skomer, to demonstrate how lucky we are to have Skomer Marine Nature Reserve and to thank them for coming along on the clean up. On the return we had a snack in the Griffin Inn. The whole day was funded by the S.A.C. and the group would like to thank them for their support.
Dublin
In August the group were asked to go back to Dublin by An Taisce to try and get some interest with local dive clubs In Dublin. We gave atalk on the Friday night to members of Aer Lingus Dive club and Portmarnock Dive club. The group went with 6 N.A.R.C. volunteers and on the Saturday arranged to do a clean up at Skerries harbour which went quite well. Again attended by members from the two dive clubs who came to the talk the previous night. The event was funded by Keep Wales Tidy and supported by An Taisce and the C.F.T. which is the Irish Dive club organisation.
Skomer MNR
Beginning of September saw the group return to the Skomer Reserve and carry out a clean up . We were not able to do our planned thank you dive for the volunteers because of poor weather so they had a dip at Watwick bay. We removed lots of Angling equipment including freeing hooks from sea fans and releasing a Dogfish. The group had chartered a boat through Broadside Charters again thanks to the S.A.C. for funding the event. All volunteers were rewarded with a hot snack and drink at Marthas Vineyard.
Stackpole Quay
The next clean up saw us return to Stackpole Quay which was done to support the invaluable work of the Marine Conservation Society during their Beachwatch week. The event was well attended and a boat was fielded By Ogwr sub Aqua club. After the clean-up the group had refreshments at the Café and had a social dive at Church Rock where we were greeted by a huge shoal of 70 or so Triggerfish. Amongst the shoal was another warm water species which was identified as an” Almaco Jack” by Mr Doug Herdson of the National Aquarium.
Hobbs Point
The next clean-up saw a huge amount of rubbish removed with us back at Hobbs Point. The diversity of rubbish here is unbelievable with a washing machine drum, cooker elements and shopping trolleys. The clean-up was in support of Keep Wales Tidy’s Pride in our Communities campaign .The group did a social dip after the clean-up to show how diverse and important the Marine Life is here in the Cleddau waterways.