‘You’d never know what turtle or bird you’ll save’

A BEACH clean that was organised by Dingle Oceanworld Mara Beo and An Taisce for the west of Ireland’s longest beach proved “a huge success”, according to Dingle Oceanworld’s Louise Overy, after more than 30 bags were filled with rubbish from a seven-kilometre stretch in the Brandon Bay area.

Louise Overy of Dingle Oceanworld was among 12 people who took part in the clean-up operation on the northern side of the Dingle Peninsula. The team spearheading the effort welcomed hard-working locals and holiday-makers on the day, allowing them to clear rubbish from more than half of the exceptionally long beach area.

“We collected more than 30 bags worth of rubbish, so it was a hugely successful effort by all concerned,” Louise told The Kerryman.

“We try to do a beach-clean each month and this time we set ourselves a massive challenge by taking on this beach which includes the Fermoyle and Maharees area as it’s one of the longest beaches in the whole country.

“Much of the rubbish we collected consisted of small items like bottle caps, fishing nets, flip flops, and that kind of thing, so it’s worth remembering how all those small things can add up to a lot when put together.”

Louise praised the efforts of the volunteers who took part, and encouraged everyone to even put their minds to two minutes of beach cleaning, “because you’d be surprised what difference it can make”.

“Our message would obviously be not to litter in the first place, but you can also help out even by doing a little bit of cleaning,” she said.

“By cleaning up a bottle cap, a bit of net, or whatever, you could save a bird or a turtle. You’d never know!”

Some of the items recovered during the beach clean in the Brandon area.