Located around 630 kilometres east of Darwin, Groote Eylandt is the largest Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the fourth largest island in Australia. The Anindilyakwa people have been looking after Groote Eylandt for over 8,000 years. The Amamalya Ayakwa (Anindilyakwa) language is unique to the islands and is one of the strongest Australian Indigenous languages - spoken by nearly 100% of the Aboriginal communities on Groote Eylandt and Bickerton Island.

When we arrived, we could see the damage that had been done by ex-Cyclone Megan which hit Groote Eylandt on the 16th of March 2024. Not only had it destroyed the Groote Eylandt wharf, affecting the resident’s access to fuel, food, water and power, but it had also damaged homes and much of the surrounding landscape. Although work is underway to rebuild the wharf and many services have been restored, there is still a long way to go.

Upon arrival our crew headed to the Anindilyakwa Land and Sea Rangers base to meet with the Rangers, where we went through a safety briefing, discussed the plan for Clean Up Groote Eylandt Day (CUGED), and our plans for the following week. It was great to reconnect with the Rangers, Parks Australia Ghost Net Team, and part of the team from Charles Darwin University who are working with the Rangers on utilizing drone and AI technology to detect marine debris on the beaches. With an Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) of 10,000 square kilometres of islands, reef and ocean to manage in the azure waters of the Groote Archipelago, this boost to the Ranger’s surveillance capabilities is greatly appreciated.

The land and sea within the IPA features culturally significant sites, songlines, and traditional resources that are highly valued by the Traditional Owners. The IPA also has significant conservation value – over 900 plant species, over 150 marine fish species, and at least 330 terrestrial vertebrate species have been recorded within its boundaries, including numerous threatened species. The IPA supports the only known population of the northern hopping mouse, is a key refuge for the northern quoll and the brush-tailed rabbit rat. It also contains important breeding areas for four threatened marine turtle species, foraging habitat for migratory shorebirds, and several internationally significant seabird rookeries.

It was great to see so many people band together for the 6th annual Clean Up Groote Eylandt Day. Our crew travelled with the Anindilyakwa Land and Sea Rangers and the Parks Australia Ghost Net team from the main ranger base at Alyangula to Umbukumba, where we assisted setting up for the day.

With 61 people joining us we headed out to 6 Mile Beach, where together we removed 1.2 tonnes of plastic from the shore in just 2.5 hours; showcasing what can be achieved when like-minded individuals come together to tackle an issue as a community. After lunch the Rangers and our crew headed back to the ranger’s base where we counted and sorted 10% of the debris collected. This data has since been provided to the Rangers, DAFF’s Ghost Net Team and CSIRO.

Our crew spent Sunday prepping for the upcoming week of cleaning. On Monday, our crew was on the road out to South Point before sunrise, where we spent three days removing 1.6 tonnes of trash from just under seven kilometres of coastline. We also conducted a coastal survey consisting of three transects using the CSIRO’s methodology and ODK, continuing the data collection undertaken at South Point last year with TJ Lawson - one of the research technicians from CSIRO’s Oceans and Atmosphere team.

We were not on the beach for long before spotting a large saltwater crocodile, reminding everyone of why we need to be extremely cautious when cleaning the coastlines of Northern Australia. On the way home we were also privileged enough to see a flat back turtle nesting on a recently cleaned section of the beach. Without the tonnes of plastic dumped on the shores by the south-east winds during the dry season, these beloved animals can easily and safely access their nesting beaches without putting their lives at risk.

On our third day we came across what appeared to be a large flat rock with some net caught on it. On closer inspection it was in fact multiple nets that had all been burnt then dumped in the ocean. This is common practice especially for Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishers, who are often fishing illegally and want to dispose of their nets for various reasons. This is demonstrated very well in Ocean Warriors: Chasing the Thunder where the IUU vessel the Thunder burns all their Illegal fishing nets to destroy the evidence of their activities. This is just another way that the industrial (and often illegal) fishing industry is destroying our oceans. Thanks to the Rangers and their vehicle fitted with an industrial crane, we were able to remove this eyesore from the beach and return the habitat back to its pristine state.

We were lucky enough to head out into the archipelago one day on the Makarda 2 and Miyabunja 2 - two Ranger boats that are needed to patrol and care for the over 700,000 hectares of Sea Country that the Anindilyakwa Land and Sea Rangers are responsible for. We headed from Alyangula to Wedge Rock and spent the next two hours traversing and cleaning this rugged coastline, where we were welcomed by a saltwater crocodile who was peacefully resting on the pristine beach of the island. After some skilful manoeuvring by the two skippers, we were able to safely exit the boats and start cleaning. We were able to remove 231 kilos of debris from 600 meters of the island’s shores, including several ghost nets and other debris associated with the fishing industry.

On our final day of cleaning, we headed back to 6 Mile Beach to finish up the work undertaken by the community on Clean Up Groot Eylandt Day. We made our way to the end of the beach where Angurrkwurrikba “Central Lake” flows into the ocean. The day was stifling hot, and with five days of cleaning under their belts the crew tackled it with great gusto; together we removed 697 kilos of plastic pollution from 3.2 kilometres of beach.

On Saturday night we held our first ever Sea Shepherd Short Film Festival on Groote Eylandt at the Alyangula Oval. We were joined by over 70 people to watch the four films; it was a great turnout with many great questions popping up from the locals over the next couple of days about the work Sea Shepherd does in Australia and across the world. This festival featured short films from the Anindilyakwa Land and Sea Rangers and three Sea Shepherd films- Jeedara, Untrashing Djulpan and The Endless Tide.

In total our team of eight volunteers, working alongside the Anindilyakwa Land and Sea Rangers, removed over 3 tonnes of debris from 10 kilometres of Groote Eylandt coastline. This works out to be approximately 100,000 pieces of plastic pollution collected and prevented from re-entering the ocean.

Working together with Anindilyakwa Land and Sea Rangers, our Sea Shepherd crew tackled three of the worst affected beaches in the Archipelago. These beaches were located in three different clans' countries, with two of these beaches being on closed lands.

Sea Shepherd Australia would like to acknowledge and thank the Traditional Custodians of Anindilyakwa for allowing us access to their Cultural Lands, including South Point (Wurrawilya country), 6 Mile Beach (Yantarrnga country) and Wedge Rock.

We’ll be back next year to continue making an impact in defence of these precious habitats for marine life.

This campaign was funded as part of the Ghost Nets Innovative Solutions Grant from the Australian Government.