'Everything from flip-flops to a light bulb' found in Murray Harbour shoreline sweep

The Nature Conservancy of Canada partnered up with the Island Nature Trust to clean up shorelines in Murray Harbour, P.E.I., on Saturday.

Their haul included everything from flip-flops to a light bulb.

Staff and volunteers travelled by boat to several islands in the area, including Thomas Island, where they collected plastic waste and marine garbage. It was the third cleanup the NCC has hosted on P.E.I. this summer. 

The area is home to various nesting and migratory birds such as great blue herons.

All five Islands within Murray Harbour are protected areas, said Lanna Campbell, the NCC's program director.

The conservancy hasn't had an organized cleanup in Murray Harbour since 2015, although officials said other groups have most likely conducted their own cleanups since. 

While the organization won't know for sure how much marine debris was collected until it is weighed, finding garbage along the area's shorelines wasn't difficult.

"There was literally hundreds of Styrofoam buoys ... one really large lobster trap, everything from flip-flops to a light bulb," Campbell said. 

While it appears to be less garbage than previous cleanups hosted by the NCC, Campbell said, there still seemed to be a "significant" amount of garbage collected. 

About a dozen people participated, she said. 

"We covered quite a bit of ground today," Campbell said. "I think we may have covered all the coastal landscape on all of the islands.

"Marine debris is a huge issue worldwide, the more we do to pick it up and take it out of our natural environment the better," she said. 

The garbage is expected to be weighed over the next couple of days to determine how much was collected, Campbell said.

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