Yesterday marked the final Coast Care-organised foreshore beach clean-up for one of Oamaru's established penguin colonies before the Waitaki District Council begins erosion work at the site.
Lorraine Adams, from the conservation group Coast Care, said yesterday it was a sad occasion as she worked to clean the pathway used by up to 500 blue penguins.
The turn-out for the clean-up was low, Ms Adams said, but the usual rubbish in the form of fishing line wire, discarded strips of tyres and plastic was there.
Beach clean-ups at the site have been a regular occurrence since 1987.
Ms Adams used to go down to the site at night to make sure penguins had clear access to nearby vegetation where they could rest. On one of these nights, she saw a penguin struggling to get to safety due to discarded rubbish.
"It was coming up on the beach and just collapsing and it had fishing line around one of its legs.
"Fishing wire just gets tighter and tighter. It's like a tree getting ring-barked.
"The penguin's leg was hanging by its skin.''
She said it was important people took care of their surrounds and looked after the other creatures that lived in their area.
"It's amazing what you pick up.
"On this beach, it looks like there's nothing on it, but when you're walking on the high-tide mark there's plastic strapping.
"I think a lot of people just think you throw it over the edge and it goes away.''
She believed beach clean-ups made people aware of just how fragile their environment was and that the action of throwing rubbish out of a car window or overboard had consequences.
