#143 Beaches Full of Plastic with Heidi Tait from Tangaroa Blue

Dec 30, 2025
27 mins

Episode Description

Heidi first recognised the scale of marine debris while working as a diving instructor, a career that placed her in the water almost daily and offered close encounters with marine wildlife.


Over time she began noticing increasing amounts of rubbish appearing in some of the world’s most treasured dive sites.


Later, while exploring the southwest coast of Western Australia, she saw debris washing onto remote beaches and began questioning its origins and how the flow could be stopped.


These observations planted the seeds of what would become Tangaroa Blue and the Australian Marine Debris Initiative.


People can get involved in many ways: participating in beach clean-ups, establishing monitoring sites, supporting data analysis, contributing to awareness campaigns or using the AMDI Data Collection App.


The value of sustained volunteer data cannot be overstated; it would be impossible to fund an equivalent program using paid staff alone.


More Information

https://tangaroablue.org/


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