A GROUP of divers have removed 113 kilograms of rubbish from Wellington Point after seeing a video of a local rescuing a turtle from entanglement in a crab pot.
Environmental Divers spokeswoman Kelly Fletcher said as soon as her team saw the video of Wellington Point man Daniel Vallis saving the turtle in late April they decided to organise a “Tough Mudder Mangrove Madness” clean up the area.
“We knew Daniel needed a hand to give the area a bit of clean up,” Ms Fletcher said.
“So we made a day out of it and removed 113kg of rubbish with the help of some volunteers.
“We found numerous turtle and various other marine animal remains among the mangroves.”
“...We had 15 people of all ages turn up to this event but those that did had a sensational time and all came back in shock at just how much humans have managed to impact the mangrove ecosystem.
“The vast and obscure reality of what was recovered can be seen (in the photos).”
Ms Fletcher said more events would be organised at various Brisbane bayside locations as well as the group’s monthly maintenance dive at the Gold Coast Seaway.
The Wellington Point environment has been under the hammer over the past couple of years, with someone cutting down mangroves at the point and sustained environmental vandalism at King Island.
Nearby Aquatic Paradise also has had mangroves cut down as has most bay islands.
