BSAC Marine Champions begin cleaning up

Main image: Peninsula Sub-Aqua Club after a successful beach clean

BSAC’s new Marine Champions are making their mark, with many already organising litter picks and sea surveys.

Launched in August, the Marine Champions initiative aims to create a community of marine environment advocates across the BSAC club network. Each Marine Champion has been tasked with coordinating their club’s environmental activities, including beach cleans underwater litter picks, surveys and conservation campaigns.

BSAC’s Marine Champions are now starting to report back on how their new roles are going. And BSAC’s Environment Committee Chair Katherine Knight said she was delighted by how well the project has been received. 

It is still early days for the Marine Champions project but it couldn’t have got off to a better start. We’ve had a steady stream of applications from enthusiastic and action-oriented members wanting to take up the Marine Champion mantle for their club. I am excited for what this initiative and our Marine Champions will achieve!

To apply to become the BSAC Marine Champion for your club you need to be aged 18+ and have your application endorsed by a member of your club’s committee. 

For more information on the Marine Champions initiative and to apply online, go to bsac.com/marinechampions 

BSAC Marine Champions in action

Gibraltar SAC 

(Pictured right) A group of volunteers led by Marine Champion Mark McKay took part in a joint clean-up to tackle litter around the Rosia Bay, Gibraltar. As a result of a twice-yearly cleanup, Mark said that seahorses are now starting to breed in the area.

Peninsula SAC 

(Pictured in main image above) Marine Champion Luke Bullus and fellow club members teamed up with ghost gear recovery charity, Fathoms Free to clean up the beach at Cornwall’s Sennen Cove. Despite the weather, the team collected an impressive amount of beach litter, including polystyrene food containers, fishing industry waste and large quantities of plastic fragments.  

Cayman Island Divers

Marine Champion Samantha Cooper organised her first official conservation dive for her club, to assess marine life around some tyres in the area of Eden Rock as well as complete a fish survey. All data collected was reported to Reef.org

Milton Keynes SAC

Armed with BSAC ocean clean-up bags six volunteer snorkellers from Milton Keynes removed two loads of rubbish weighing almost 10kg from their open water training site, the Blue Lagoon, near Bletchley. This included beer bottles and cans, plastic bags, left over BBQs and even a football.