LIZARD ISLAND EXPEDITION DIARY
DAYS OF ABSEILING DOWN CLIFFS TO CLEAN UP BEACHES AND SNORKELING TO THE SOUND OF HUMPBACK WHALES, AND NIGHTS SPENT CELEBRATING THE REMOVAL OF 3,000 KG OF MARINE DEBRIS ARE JUST A FEW OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR RECENT ACTION-PACKED EXPEDITION TO THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
DAY ONE
Cairns to Lizard Island
Stunning views of the colors of the reef on the one-hour flight from Cairns to Lizard Island. We spot the coastline of Cape Bedford and Cape Flattery on the mainland – location of the Australia episode of The Air We Breathe, and an ongoing site of Parley cleanup operations. We look out the windows for humpback whales on migration but spot a dugong from above instead. On landing, the plane needed to dodge the island’s best-known animal, the yellow-spotted monitor lizard, lazing on the runway. In the evening, we held a talk at the Lizard Island Resort social club with a screening of Parley’s ‘Welcome to the Movement’ video, which had people in tears, followed by an informed and sincere Q&A discussion.
DAY TWO
Coconut Beach #1 Cleanup
We hiked from the end of the airstrip with eight of the resort’s staff through the scrub – eucalyptus and acacia woodlands, past mangroves along Mangrove Beach, then over the granite headland of Lizard Head to abseil down the cliff by rope to Coconut Beach; our target due to its south-east facing beach and resulting heavy accumulation of marine debris. (Matt replaced the old rope for safety). Once on the beach, we collected 172.8 kgs of debris from the southern creek, and along the high tide line up to the northern creek.
We spot turtle eggs and nests, and epaulette shark eggs. The erosion of saltbush tree roots bordering the beach creates a cage for a lot of plastic to hide behind. Very difficult to reach – we’ll bring litter grabbers on Thursday to collect the trapped PET bottles and more. Windy and sunny, with a few showers. It was a fun group, with many international staff from South America, Europe and the UK.
In the evening we held a Parley Talk for resort guests in the resort’s lounge, detailing the Parley Global Mission and Cleanup Network, and Parley operations across Australia and Lizard Island. Good discussion and sharing.
DAY THREE
Trawler Bay, Mangrove Beach, and One Tree Coconut Beach Cleanups.
Early start. Jumped on the resort boat, Nemo, from Anchor Bay to Mangrove Beach. Then hiked over to Trawler Bay, spotting sharks and turtles in the shallows. Lots of microplastics created by the wave action on the rocks, and lots of plastic wedged between the rocks. Kept an eye out for crocs spotted recently in the area – none seen. 40kgs collected and transported back to the resort by boat for separation and recycling. Sunny and windy, it was a fun day with lots of rock climbing and bouldering.
Back at the resort, Helen, Parley’s awesome volunteer field assistant, arrived from Cairns with more cleanup equipment. We had dinner at the resort’s Salt Water restaurant. Very nice meal and service. Otherwise, all meals were provided in the staff mess – also delicious.
DAY FOUR
Coconut Beach #2 Cleanup
Overcast and very windy, with a few showers. Hiked from the end of the runway over the mountain and abseiled down to the beach. Collected the microplastics in the southern creek. From the northern creek, Matt removed a 1000 liter water tank that had been buried under pumice and sand for at least five years, dragging it along the shoreline to create a basecamp of cleanup equipment for others who visit the beach. We worked the northern creek and rocky headland and carried 12 hessian sacks of debris back to the southern end stockpile to fill three bulk bags. We're using second-hand fertilizer bags from the sugarcane industry as they are strong and will weather the sun.
Rob Jory, Maintenance Manager of the resort, will use his personal boat and a team of staff to return to the beach in calm weather to load the three bulk bags and other loose items (car tire, plastic pallet, plastic containers, safety helmets, floats etc) and send them back to Cairns on the SeaSwift barge for recycling and processing by Parley.
Party night to celebrate the success of the Parley x Lizard Island Resort recycling program: on World Oceans Day, June 8, we launched the first Parley AIR Challenge on the island – to fill 10 bulk bags with recyclable containers in 10 weeks. Parley and Lizard Island Resort Social Club split the refunds for Parley to spend on more beach cleanups and activations and for the social club to spend on staff events and facilities. They nailed it. Over 800 kgs were diverted from landfill, so we celebrated. We held a Parley Talk and screened videos and a slideshow of images from the previous days’ events.
DAY FIVE
Pebbly Beach Mini-Cleanup / Research Station Visit.
Walked to Lizard Island Research Station to meet Anne Hoggett, the Lizard Island Research Station’s director of 30 years. Coarse sand = Pebbly Beach, and great visibility. Snorkelled and found a fishing rod in the water with its line wrapped around the corals. Lizard is a Green Zone – no fishing allowed! Stunning beach. They all are. Great healthy reef too. We could hear humpback whale song underwater. We swam with turtles, sharks and loads of reef fish. Mini beach cleanup, a few scraps + the fishing rod.
We’re already planning our next trip to meet new staff and fresh faces in management and planning to expand our impact with a suite of guest services. We have doubled our Parley AIR Challenge to 20 bags of recycling in 10 weeks. I think they can do it. Lizard Island Resort is on board with our sustainable hospitality mission. Can’t wait to see what we can achieve together.
Photography and journal by Belinda Flanders