Clean-Up Find 50,000 Bits of Rubbish in Australian State Wilderness

A supplied image obtained Feb. 25, 2023 of people sorting through rubbish from beaches in Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage Area. Two dozen beach cleaners found 70 metres of black industrial fish feeding pipes, hundreds of metres of tangled rope, buoys, floats and other rubbish across 12 beaches. AAP Image/Oscar Wyatt/Tean Clean

Buoys, floats, nets and massive fishing ropes are among the 50,000 pieces of garbage collected from beaches in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

Two dozen environmentalists spent a fortnight combing beaches in the state’s rugged southwest for plastic flakes, rope fragments and other rubbish strewn along the shores.