A new plastic litter campaign aimed at raising awareness on the problems caused by single use plastics and micro-plastics in our seas was launched today by local environmental-NGO Nature Trust.
The launch took place at Gnejna Bay where around 100 turtle eggs were laid and hatched earlier this year in August, an occurrence that caught widespread attention from the public and raised general excitement around the issue of plastics in our seas.
An educational event was also organized for 130 students who are presently participating in the Young Reporters for the Environment – Litter Less campaign, run by FEE and represented locally by Nature Trust FEE Malta.
The event included a clean-up, sand sifting with strainers to filter out sand and recuperate small waste, educational workshops ranging from information on the effects of litter on marine life to the work done by the rescue team. Students also took part in a photography session aimed at sending strong message to the public on how and why we should reduce litter.
The workshops were manned by Wildlife Rescue Team, MTA, WasteServ, AFM, ERA and Zibel amongst others.
This year was a record year for the total amount of turtles brought into Malta for care due to the ingestion of plastic, Nature Trust President Vince Attard said, also pointing out that due to the micro-plastics in the ocean that are frequently ingested by aqua life, we have ended up eating plastic ourselves.
During the event three turtles were released into the wild after being taken care of by Volunteers of Nature Trust Wildlife Rescue section at San Lucjan Centre. Most of these suffered plastics or marine debris ingestion with one of the turtles, Stef, being found entangled in a net of which she had also ingested part. This had to be removed under surgery by the Wildlife Rescue Vet Dr AGrupetta.
The turtles were named Stef, who was a 5-year-old female and had been recovering at the center for around a month; Victoria, who had a number of infections due to her ingesting plastic, was 8-9 years old, and was named as such because she was found in Victoria Gozo; and finally, Gabriel, a 45kg male who also contracted an infection because of plastic.
Every turtle is microchipped so as to better coordinate with other foreign e-NGOs.
Speaking to this newsroom after the release of the turtles, Attard stated that as Nature Trust they feel that the plastic problem is always growing.
“We felt that we had to launch a campaign to raise public awareness on the issue of plastic litter in the ocean.”
“Today we also released 3 turtles that suffered from various issues related to plastic litter, and we hope that would help raise public awareness for people to be more responsible on our beaches with regards to littering.”
Also attending the event were the ambassadors of Holland and Ireland, Frank Keurhorst and Patrick Duffy, Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of the USA Mark Schapiro, Mgarr mayor Paul Vella, and TV Personality Claire Agius.