The Cleanup for High School Day 5 : 21-02-2017

The day started well when I went for a super-cold morning swim in the 16 degree waters of Schooner Cove. It was great swimming around but I could not see very far underwater due to the unique tannin-stained layer of freshwater that sits above the salty seawater in Schooner Cove and the rest of Port Davey. It was a bit like swimming in cold tea but not so tasty!   

We then set sail for Green Island main beach. It took two hours to get there and as we sailed along I had mixed feelings about what we would find when we arrived. Last year I was part of the team that cleaned this beach and it was a long tough day:
- First we had to pull thousands of little bits of rubbish out of all the rotting seaweed that is found along the middle of this beach.
- Then we had to sort and count all the smelly rubbish back on the boat. Yuk!

But despite the rubbish and the rotting seaweed this beach is a beautiful and interesting place.

- It has a lovely little creek that flows past an Aboriginal tool-making site.
- Rugged, jagged rocks form a cosy little bay.
- There is a hidden wetland behind the main sand dune that is full of life.
- Signs of life are everywhere.

When we finally got to the beach it seemed a bit cleaner after cleanup last year but we still managed to pick up over 15000 pieces of plastic and rope in 3-4 hours of smelly cleaning!

I used my lunch time to make a field sketch diagram that I hope will help you understand the features of this very interesting place.

You can see the basic field sketch here>>

..and the more complicated field sketch with geographical processes here>>