Goswick beach clean

Yesterday, a team of eight volunteers took to Goswick for a litter pick, cleaning the area north of the Golf Club car park towards Cheswick Black Rocks. The beach was generally clean, but the team still managed to fill three bags of litter which they removed from the beach. No fishing line was found on this particular beach clean.

The group discovered a dead harbour porpoise decomposing on the beach. There were fortunately no signs to indicate that this was from anything other than natural causes. Its carcass will provide food for birds such as crows and gulls, and flies drawn to feed on it will become food for species such as starlings and rock pipits. Once washed back into the sea, its remains will be eaten by crustaceans and fish.

The event was coordinated by Reserve and Coast Care volunteer Andy Pigg, leading a team of Coast Care volunteers. Coast Care are one of the Reserve's partner organisations; a fantastic local initiative that supports volunteers to care for the beautiful Northumberland coast. Four volunteers joined the group for the first time. Our thanks to all of the volunteers who put time and energy into helping to keep the beaches on the Reserve beautiful for people and safe for wildlife.

Interested in helping with future beach cleans? See our social media and events page for updates, or the Coast Care blog for their list of activities in the region.