KALAPUAN BEACH CLEAN

Written by Helena French

17 of us went to Kalapuan to engage with the local community of Bajau children, and to teach them to be excited about beach clean ups!

We organised into three teams; Team Sandwich who were in charge of making 60 sandwiches for the children, Team Community Engagement who were getting the kids excited and involved in the beach clean, and Team Weight who weighed the rubbish bags that we collected.

Despite the stormy weather, Team Sandwich got us off to a good start, making jam, peanut butter and (the kid’s favourite) egg mayo sandwiches.We took both boats to Kalapuan, bracing the waves and chance of rain!

Photo by Anais Lafuente

When we got to the island, we hopped ashore, and one of our local staff, Welman, started gathering the excited children. Our Science Officer Jeeth then spoke to them all; explaining what we were going to do, and organising them into rows so we could give them the sandwiches.

There was also a fluffy goat that was very interested in the egg sandwiches, he licked my hand then butted it when I wouldn’t give him any!

We then gave them the shrimp bags, and they were off! Team Community Engagement had planned on organising some games for them to be excited to clean, but they really weren’t needed!

Photo by Anais Lafuente

They seemed very happy running off down the beach with our volunteers, all working together to pick up plastic, polystyrene, flip flops… and anything else we could find! We did bring some music with us, a playlist full of local music, and some of our favourites too.

After we collected 36 (!) shrimp bags full of rubbish, we headed back to the jetty. Not before we had a dance break though, teaching them how to Macarena, showing them the baby shark dance, and blasting some Justin Bieber, which was their request!

Photo by Anais Lafuente

The children seemed to be very interested in the volunteers that have tattoos, asking them to show them all off!

Photo by Anais Lafuente

We loaded the boat with the rubbish, then the children walked us to the main jetty. We made sure we supplied the music, with Saturday Night Fever proving to be a hit! Walking back hand in hand with the kids, they were singing the English alphabet and counting as high as they could. Getting back to the jetty, we had another quick dance break, before the kids waved us off.

Photo by Anais Lafuente

All of the volunteers have been talking about how much they enjoyed the morning spent with them, how the children were so lovely and smiling… and obviously enjoying our dance moves.

Getting back to Pom Pom, Team Weight swung into action, weighing the rubbish bags that we collected, with a grand total of 221kg being removed from the Kalapuan beach!!

Photo by Anais Lafuente

We’re hoping the kids will continue to collect the plastic around their homes, or at least we hope that we have raised awareness of what is bad for the ocean!

POM POM CREATURE FEATURE

harlequin shrimp

(Hymenocera picta)

Harlequin Shrimp , if observed, are beautiful and graceful creatures.  You may see them swaying back and forth peacefully waving their paddle like claws as if dancing. They form monogamous pairs, usually spending their entire life with the same partner. I know what you’re thinking, naaaw what sweet, lovely little organisms, in thinking this you would be wrong!

These unique little shrimp are vicious, calculated predators. Not only do they work together to capture their prey, but they also abduct it and drag it back to their lair where they keep it alive long enough to devour it entirely, which can take up to a week!

Although grizzly behaviour indeed, you must admire the inventive tactics employed by the Harlequin Shrimp to get what it wants most, starfish.

Harlequin Shrimp eat starfish exclusively, they’ve even been known to take on the infamous crown of Thorns Starfish. So how do they manage such a feat when a starfish can be up to 100 times the weight of these tiny hunters?

Working as a team, one shrimp snips suction-tube feet from each arm of its prey. Meanwhile, it’s mate gradually pulls the Sea Star over onto its back. Once that’s accomplished, the pair drag their hapless victim off to a preferred dining spot, typically under a rocky ledge or coral head.

Harlequin Shrimps usually spend their whole life with one partner and together they hunt and defend their homes. Harlequin Shrimps mate shortly after the females’ moult (shedding of her shell). The female produces between 100 and 5,000 eggs per season, depending on environmental factors. She will tend and clean the eggs until they hatch. Mating for life, a monogamous Harlequin Shrimp pair will become territorial

what's their status?

Harlequin Shrimp are truly amazing, rare and unique animals and like many other marine organisms they are under threat from human impacts.

They have not been evaluated under CITES or assessed for the IUCN red list, meaning very little is know about the state of their population status.

They do however suffer as a result of coral reef damage and the Aquarium trade.

What can I DO TO HELP?

If you want to keep seeing amazing critters like these guys in their natural habitat then help us care for our oceans, and don’t buy pets caught from the wild. 

It's very important to dive responsibly and make sure your fellow divers and dive guides do as well. If you see someone harassing or moving a marine creature intervene, or tell your dive guide before the dive that you don't approve of marine life being touched or poked by pointers for your amusement.