Thank you, Sandy Point Conservation Volunteers!
Beach safer for wildlife after 1000 pounds of garbage removed
Sandy Point Beach Sweep 2016, NL (Photo by Aiden Mahoney)
Saturday, July 20 was a beautiful hot and sunny day on the West Coast, the perfect day for the 7th annual Sandy Point beach sweep! As usual, there was a great turnout from the community, with 18 dedicated volunteers joining Nature Conservancy of Canada staff for the cleanup. Barachois Search and Rescue as well as local fisherman Limbert Young provided boat transportation over to Sandy Point, which, contrary to its name, is actually an island.
Once on the island we were greeted by Charlie Joyce, who assisted the volunteers by moving heavier garbage with his ATV and trailer. Throughout the day, volunteers collected many types of garbage that had been washed up by storms: rope, tires, pieces of foam, buckets and plastics in all shapes and sizes — a lot of it in the process of breaking down. As this is our seventh cleanup, we’ve found some interesting things over the years including the leg of a Ken doll, a hockey skate, a large plastic rabbit head, women’s underwear and a bowling pin!
This year, an estimated 6 cubic yards of garbage (approximately 1,000 pounds) was removed from Sandy Point, making the beach safer for wildlife, not to mention, a whole lot nicer to look at! Thanks to Containerized Sanitation for donating a dumpster for the fourth year in a row. Thanks also to Husky Energy for their support of our Conservation Interns program, and Resource Innovations Inc for sponsoring this cleanup project. And a huge thank you to our volunteers for giving your time and energy to the Sandy Point Nature Reserve. See you next year!
