If you go down to the beach today you’ll be more than likely to come across one of the recently founded ‘Friends of Poldhu’ group hard at work helping to keep Poldhu a clean and enjoyable beach to visit. The group began earlier this year when several local dog walkers and beach lovers decided to take a more proactive lead in looking after one of their much loved local beauty spots. This group of enthusiasts along with Poldhu Beach Café and myself formed ‘Friends of Poldhu’, who are working together to protect marine wildlife and keep Poldhu clean.
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| Common dolphin found at Poldhu last month |
During the high season the National Trust owned beach, Poldhu Cove, is a popular sandy beach amongst holiday makers and locals alike and out of season it becomes a well used wintery walk for dog owners. Whatever the season though, Poldhu suffers from large volumes of marine litter brought in on the tides and stormy seas. Sadly, what we find on the beaches is just a tiny proportion of the marine litter that is floating in our worlds oceans. Over 100,000 marine mammals and 1 million seabirds die every year from ingestion and entanglement in marine litter. This can have devastating effects for already endangered species such as the albatross who mistake small pieces of floating plastic for fish to feed their chicks with. We had a recent reminder of this just a few weeks ago when a common dolphin which had drowned after becoming tangled in nets was washed up at Poldhu, these findings are an upsetting reminder of how detrimental our actions can be to such magnificent and elusive mammals. Friends of Poldhu are helping to tackle marine litter at source by recording their findings as part of a nation wide survey coordinated by the Marine Conservation Society where the data is collated to indicate the source of pollution.
The Friends of Poldhu group does a lot more than just keeping the beach clean. They are assisting the National Trust with improving the access and aesthetics on the beach entrances as well as raising awareness. Many hands make light work and so if you would like to be a helping hand then please join us for our monthly beach clean on the last Friday of every month at 11am. The next one falls in half term week on Friday 22nd. All equipment is provided plus hot drinks afterwards for all volunteers. Alternatively you can use the beach clean dispenser situated at the main entrance at any time. Feel free to contact friendsofpoldhu@gmail.com or find us at Beach Watcher on Facebook.
