Cleaning the beaches of the Outer Hebrides

On Friday 21st February, the Hebridean Adventures' crew of the MV Monadhliath were delighted to be able to attend a public meeting held by Clean Coast Outer Hebrides (CCOH). The meeting was a great way to catch up with the organisation and learn all about their plans for the coming season.

Working out at sea, we sadly witness marine plastic pollution every single time we leave harbour. Living in the Outer Hebrides, which boasts over 4,000km of coastline, we are also keenly aware of the pollution that washes ashore onto our world famous, stunningly beautiful beaches. Island life world over tends to revolve around the sea in many ways, and our daily exposure to the marine situation truly illustrates the pollution issues faced by our huge range of wildlife. 

Typical CCOH beach clean at Bragar  (Image CCOH)

CCOH have been working tirelessly to raise awareness, encourage education, and clean our coastlines of the plastic waste and rubbish that accumulates there. To date they have removed over 18,000 kilos of rubbish from our coastlines, a fantastic feat!

With some of our beaches being relatively inaccessible over land (those stunning sea cliffs we are famous for are wonderful to see, but somewhat less wonderful to scale), Hebridean Adventures and CCOH are working together on a pilot trip this spring with the MV Monadhliath providing access into these remote bays and inlets. It’s a collaboration we’re obviously very excited about, and we’re looking forward to working closely with CCOH over the coming months to make it happen, particularly as 2020 has been designated in Scotland as the Year of Coast and Waters.

This Big Boat Beach Clean event has been officially supported and you can read all about this on the CCOH website by clicking this link!