On Saturday 16 September 2017, almost 250 volunteers met at Milnerton Lighthouse for the 32nd International Coastal Cleanup Day. The Two Oceans Aquarium is proud to have been able to host this cleanup - one of 22 official events taking place across South Africa as part of WESSA Tourism Blue Flag's The Big 2017 Cleanup.

Congratulations to our prize winners

We were very fortunate to enjoy the support of some amazing brands this year. A huge thanks to our prize sponsors:

7seasrope gifted a bangle made from discarded fishing line. 

7SeasRope is a company that conducts beach cleanups with the Gansbaai community and volunteer groups to remove this debris and help keep our coastlines the way they should be, and also to give the animals that inhabit them a safe place to live in. 

Plantastic gifted a bag and a bangle made from discarded and geo-tagged plastic bags. Plantastic recently took their environmental responsibility a step further – pledging R60 for every Plantangle sold to the Two Oceans Aquarium's turtle rehab and release conservation programme.

Stream Straws gave away three sets of glass straws and a T-shirt. Stream Straws is a local business with a simple mission: to reduce the number of plastic straws used daily across the globe and to replace them with a reusable and eco-friendly alternative.

Quench Products and Surfers Pledge gifted a reusable water bottle. Perfectly insulated to keep your drinks hot or cold, who needs single-use plastic bottles that end up in our sea?  

We also gave away an Aquarium membership, a Penguin Experience and a set of day tickets. 

Every child at the cleanup received a copy of Keep The Beach Clean, which is part of our Puppet Stories book series for little ones. Thanks to Woolworths for sponsoring 300 books!

And our members volunteering on the day each received this very cool travelling mug - no more need for single-use takeaway cups! 

When we arrived, Milnerton Beach initially looked quite "clean", but it didn't take long for volunteers to realise the extent to which tiny microplastic particles had become embedded in the environment. We pressed on, some beachcombers focussing on the large items of litter, and other volunteers putting their effort into cleansing small stretches of beach of the multitude of microplastic particles.

Thanks to the great support NSRI - helping keep the oceans safe in more ways than one!

Thanks for the support Table Bay Rovers/Scouts SA.

Awesome support from Cape Town High School.

These tiny plastic particles are a big problem.

Along the way, many of those who joined in pledged to support #OurOcean - a promise to do our part and reduce plastic pollution in the oceans. This forms part of the European Commission’s global campaign “World Aquariums Against Marine Litter”, which we are proudly a part of. 

Thanks SANParks for being awesome and supporting the mission to protect #OurOcean.

If these pictures are anything to go by, keeping our environment pristine doesn't need to be an inconvenience. A huge thanks to everyone who joined us!