Our oceans need our help

"Our past, our present, and whatever remains of our future, absolutely depend on what we do now."

- Sylvia Earle, Oceanographer

 

  • 8 million pieces of plastic pollution end up in the ocean every day.

  • Less than 9% of all plastic gets recycled.

  • Plastic use is projected to double by 2040 in Australia.

  • During the pandemic, plastic consumption increased dramatically, from disposable face masks to plastic packaging.

  • A conservative estimate of 100,000 marine mammals and 1 million seabirds are killed each year from the impacts of plastic in the ocean. 


"We know that when we protect our oceans we’re protecting our future."

- President Bill Clinton


The health of our oceans and climate change are inextricably linked. In the race to tackle climate change, the ocean is one of our best solutions and our biggest hope.

It absorbs over 90% of heat and almost a third of all CO2 that humans have ever produced. It also provides us with half the air we breathe.

Marine life, such as whales, can play a huge part in absorbing carbon too. When it comes to global warming, one whale is worth thousands of trees.

As an island nation, the oceans are a part of Australian identity and culture. They also have a huge economic value, including tourism and the seafood industry, and are an integral part of the Cairns economy.

We must therefore fight to protect and restore the reef, the ocean at large, and the creatures that call it home.

‘Trouble in Paradise’ x Tangaroa Blue

The marine debris used in the ‘Trouble in Paradise’ art installation has been collected by volunteers and staff of the Tangaroa Blue Foundation from a number of locations from Cairns to Cape York. Particularly in Cape York, over 90% of the debris comes from the ocean, with very little coming from the land. This ratio changes the more you travel south into the more populated regions of the country, where most of the debris comes from land-based sources. Regardless of where it's coming from, our oceans are all interconnected and it's everyone's responsibility to do their bit in the fight against marine debris. 

 

The Tangaroa Blue Foundation is an Australia-wide not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the removal and prevention of marine debris: one of the major environmental issues worldwide. To successfully solve the problem, Tangaroa Blue created the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI), an on-ground network of volunteers, communities and organisations that contribute data to the AMDI Database, and then work on solutions to stop the flow of litter at the source. The AMDI helps communities look after their coastal environment by providing resources and support programs, and collaborates with industry and government to create change on a large scale.

 

Since 2004, 210,364 volunteers have been involved in 27,638 clean-ups across the country and collected and entered 20,595,903 items of debris into the AMDI Database. The Foundation also delivers the project ReefClean which is funded by the Australian Government's Reef Trust. Launched in early 2019, the project aims to remove and prevent marine debris along the Great Barrier Reef region through to 2023.

 

If you'd like to get involved, whether that's attending a beach clean-up, helping with conducting quarterly monitoring, running a Source Reduction Plan or helping out at an event, please check out www.tangaroablue.org or email info@tangaroablue.org for more information.