In late April 2026, Sea Shepherd Australia's remote marine debris crew returned to Mapoon for the fourth time, working alongside the Mapoon Land and Sea Rangers on one of northern Australia's most important turtle nesting grounds. What they achieved together was extraordinary.
In a single day, the team removed 2.9 tonnes of debris from just 800 metres of coastline - the most waste ever removed in one day on any of Sea Shepherd's remote clean-ups. By week's end, twelve tonnes had been cleared in total, with an estimated 293,929 pieces removed, including hard plastic remnants, water and soft drink bottles, plastic personal care bottles, bottle tops and polystyrene.
Remote Marine Debris Campaigner Grahame Lloyd, who leads these projects on the ground, put it plainly: "To remove 3 tonnes in one day is not normal. Remote Australian beaches should not be receiving this volume of pollution."
Read the full Sea Shepherd article here.
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Burke Marine is deeply committed to preserving and protecting our planet's waterways, and proudly supports Sea Shepherd in their mission to clean up our oceans.