Rubbish amount of debris in Darwin Harbour

SHOPPING trolleys, plastic bottles, car tyres, fishing lures, discarded fireworks and camping rubbish have all been cleaned out of Darwin Harbour’s crystal blue waters by local volunteers

Larrakia Ranger Jessica Puntoriero with part of the load of Rubbish cleaned up from Darwin Harbour. PIC GLENN CAMPBELL

SHOPPING trolleys, plastic bottles, car tyres, fishing lures, discarded fireworks and camping rubbish have all been cleaned out of Darwin Harbour’s crystal blue waters by local volunteers.

More than 120 people from 35 different organisations — including Surf Life Saving NT, Tangaroa Blue Foundation and Darwin Fish Market — took part in the 10th annual Darwin Harbour Clean-Up today.

Larrakia Ranger Jessica Puntoriero with part of the load of Rubbish cleaned up from Darwin Harbour and Gunn Point. PIC GLENN CAMPBELL

Larrakia Nation ranger manager Ben Smith was out at Gunn Point Beach and said the amount of waste his team cleaned up was “shocking”.

“It’s disappointing,” he said.

“This year has been a big year for camping and we found a lot of smashed bottles, discarded chairs, lots of plastic bags full of rubbish — which the birds have ripped open and spread everywhere.

“Darwin’s a beautiful city we need to look after it.”

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Larrakia Nation women’s team leader Jessica Puntoriero said rangers saw first-hand the devastating impact marine pollution had on the Territory environment.

“As plastic and other man-made materials break down in the marine environment into smaller and smaller pieces, there is even a concern they can make their way through the food chain and into the seafood we eat,” she said.

Ms Puntoriero urged Territorians to pick up after themselves, and to pick up any stray rubbish they saw while on the water.

Tangaroa Blue Foundation’s Sylvia Conway was weighing the rubbish and collecting the data.

“We’ve seen heaps of single-use plastic, lots of car tyres and recreational fishing items,” she said.

“Turtles think plastic bags are jellyfish.”