2 December, 2020

Navy recruits help clean up peninsula coastline

Navy recruits new to Devonport have made an early impact in their time in service with a big clean-up along the coastline from Hauraki to Ngataringa Bay. In all, 13,000 litres of marine litter was removed.

Twice a year, up to 100 recruits, working with the Sea Cleaners Trust, spend a day combing shores and waters around Auckland for discarded rubbish as an exercise in teamwork and community service.

The focus this time was on the Devonport peninsula, said Sea Cleaners founding trustee Hayden Smith. The Navy’s second intake of the year was last month split into groups of around 20 to work on areas around Harley Close, Northboro Reserve, Plymouth Cres and Ngataringa Rd.

“The efforts are a part of our combined effort to provide a community-based learning exercise for all the new recruits,” said Smith. “As part of their humanitarian-aid training, we work together year on year to focus on regular clean-up activities.”

For the past four years, regular work has been done up the Tamaki River, or on the Manukau Harbour, said Smith.

“This time it was important to focus on local waterways in the Navy’s own community.”