Action Day helps ‘Seal the Loop’

Torquay College students joined in on the annual Seal the Loop Action Day – a day aimed to help untangle the threats to marine wildlife and raise awareness about the impact marine debris.

Hundreds of Victorian school students across ten locations participated in a variety of activities to help promote the importance of plastic and litter free marine environments.

Torquay College year 3 and 4 students were among the statewide participants, with more than 200 students descending on Fishermans Beach to help remove marine debris, including micro plastics in the sand.

The school also hosted environmental stalls in the morning, with students presenting interactive projects to promote binning plastics and fishing lines.

Torquay College Year 3 teacher Bronwen Miller said the students worked together to create unique projects before presenting them to fellow students, teachers and parents.

“Both the Year 3s and 4s did an amazing job creating games, experiments and performances to highlight the importance of keeping our beaches plastic free,” she said.

Some of the presentations included:

• Rubbish Toss – get the litter in the right bin
• Food chain Jenga – see what happens when all the bottom of food chain disappears
• Rubbish reactions with sea water – experiment on the impact of litter

 

Environmental Education Coordinator Peter Crowcroft crouches down in the sand after spotting some fishing line tangled in the seaweed.

The ‘Seal the Loop’ program is a Zoos Victoria initiative designed to remove fishing waste at ports and popular fishing locations across Victoria.

Great Ocean Road Coast Environmental Education Coordinator Hilary Bouma said it was a fantastic day with students really engaging in positive environmental messages.

“Torquay College is a fantastic group. All the students are eager to work towards a clean, sustainable marine environment which helps promote positive environmental stewardship in the community,” she said.

As a not-for-profit organisation, the Great Ocean Road Coast offers free activities to its participants on our managed coastal Crown land.

For more information and to book your group in one of our programs, visit the Great Ocean Road Coast website.