Sea Shepherd Australia volunteers and community members made a remarkable impact during The Great Butt Hunt 2024, removing over 10,000 cigarette butts from the marine environment. This initiative, run in collaboration with the No More Butts organisation, highlights the urgent need to tackle this pervasive pollutant and advocate for a national and international ban on single-use plastic cigarette filters.

During the week of November 9–17, The Great Butt Hunt took place in nine locations across five states, bringing together passionate volunteers to clean up local habitats. Here’s a snapshot of the incredible efforts:

Queensland
• Brisbane: 380 butts collected at Orleigh Park, plus 153kg of trash removed.
• Gold Coast: A community clean-up in Lenox Park yielded 956 cigarette butts.

New South Wales
• Bar Beach, Newcastle: 485 butts removed in just 1 hour!
• Manly Cove Beach, Sydney – 1,482 single-use plastic butts in just 150m area!

Victoria
• Rye Pier: 480 butts removed.
• Port Melbourne: 1,515 butts cleared by a dedicated team.

South Australia
• Semaphore Beach: A successful event with 1,348 butts collected.
• Sellicks Beach: Special shoutout to Lily for individually collecting 409 butts!

Western Australia
From Denmark in the south to Perth’s northern suburbs, the WA Marine Debris Crews led the charge, collecting a staggering 6,063 cigarette butts! Highlights include:
• Kwinana (Wells Park): 2,152 butts identified as a key hotspot.
• Trigg Beach – 852 butts
• Berridge Park, Denmark – 75 cigarette butts recorded.
• Hillary’s Boat Ramp: A single volunteer collected 391 butts in just 30 minutes!

Shannon Mead, Executive Director of No More Butts, extended his heartfelt thanks: "Having more than 70 people volunteer their time across the 10 days is fantastic. Not only were they able to recover 10,000 butts from the environment, but they also came together with passion and purpose. We hope the Great Butt Hunt continues as an annual event. In the meantime, this data will help us advocate for a filter ban nationally and internationally."

In addition to the butt collections, our teams remove 226kg of trash, preventing another 7,926 pieces from entering the ocean!

Cigarette butts remain the #1 litter item globally and the top item collected during Sea Shepherd’s clean-ups nationally. Data collected during this initiative will be used to advocate for a Strong Plastics Treaty and measures to eliminate plastic filters from production.

A massive thank you to our volunteers and individuals who participated in The Great Butt Hunt 2024! Your efforts are a vital step toward a safer ocean.

Want to join our next clean-up? Find your local Marine Debris team.