409 Kg of Marine Litter Retrieved from Galathea Bay Throughout Coastal Cleanup Drive

Campbell Bay | September 26, 2026

A complete of 409 kg of marine litter was collected from the Galathea Bay in Great Nicobar Island throughout a coastal cleanup drive organised on September 26 as a part of the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) initiative.

Galathea Bay is recognised as one of many largest Leatherback Turtle nesting websites within the Indian Ocean. The third Saturday of September is noticed yearly as International Coastal Cleanup Day. This 12 months, 50 seashores throughout India have been chosen by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai, for the initiative, with Galathea Bay among the many recognized websites.

The cleanup drive was coordinated by Dr. V. Shiva Shankar, an impartial researcher and former visitor college of Environmental Science at Mahatma Gandhi Government College (MGGC), Mayabunder, in collaboration with the Nicobar Forest Division.

The occasion was flagged off by Ravi Kant, IFS, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Nicobar Division. Rajender Verma, Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF), together with Rangers Dr. Neelam Purti and Nikhil Mondal, additionally participated within the cleanup exercise.

According to the organisers, a complete of 409 kg of marine litter was collected from an space protecting roughly 2,45,000 sq. metres. The recorded litter density was 0.393 gadgets per sq. metre by depend and 17 grams per sq. metre by weight.

Marine litter originating from a number of Indian Ocean Rim international locations, together with Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, was additionally discovered and picked up in the course of the cleanup operation.