Marine biologist Jimena Ramón Montemayor taught children about three marine animals at the Whale Tail last week. Photo: Laura Montemayor.
“Some people say they believed the beach was clean,” marine biologist Jimena Ramón Montemayor said.
“But collectively we got 3.5kg of rubbish, we realised how dirty it was.”
Around 20 children attended Mrs Montemayor’s free “Beach School” session last week at Esperance foreshore.
Starting at the Whale Tail, they learned about three different sea animals: sawfish, octopus and seahorses using soft toys of each species to illustrate.
“It’s an interactive session where the kids participate, they count, they say what they know and they learn,” Mrs Montemayor said.
“For example I say ‘seven metres’ and they count seven big steps so they can see the size of the fish.
“Some sawfish can reach up to seven metres so they can visualise how big a fish can be.”
A beach cleanup followed along the beach near the shark enclosure.
“The most recurrent items were cigarette butts, around 60 or more cigarette butts.
“We separated the items and we entered the data into the Australian Marine Debris register to contribute to scientific data so the kids are participating in citizen science.”
Ms Montemayor said she was very happy with the “amazing turnout”.
“We were very lucky with the weather, we had a beautiful sunny day,” she said.
“Sadly we encountered a lot of rubbish but I guess it was a good thing that we did a beach cleanup.
“Even though we believe the beach is clean it wasn’t, and we are making a difference.”
It was a free session with a donation box, offering fruit at the end for a gold coin donation.
It was supported by Kyza Presents, Esperance Volunteer Centre local environment LEAF.
