A one-man mission to clean up Maltese beaches over three days while sleeping rough, has raised €1,000 for a wildlife NGO but more importantly, has inspired others to join his cause. 

A fitness instructor by trade, Mark Galea Pace set out on a solo boat trip on Friday, cleaning beaches and lugging the rubbish onto his boat, to rally awareness for the degraded state of our seas.

Two days, 52 bags of rubbish and 20 jerricans later, Galea Pace said he is knackered, shocked, but also moved by the feedback he is receiving as a result of this Expedition Clean Seas challenge.

“I have done other cleanups but have never seen so much plastic and other debris,” he told Times of Malta, from a camping site in Qala where he had spent the last two nights.

The funds raised for Nature Trust FEE, also came as positive news to the NGO, which is struggling to stay out of the red since the pandemic dried up donations.

“This will help cover some expenses for the next two months related to the wildlife rehabilitation and conservation," said site coordinator Angelique Lofaro. "Donations like these keep us going." 

Galea Pace was grateful to his sponsors, saying the most heartening part of his expedition was the “explosion of awareness” he witnessed for a cause he feels very deeply about.

“My friend called me up and said I had inspired him to organise a clean-up himself, and the next day he went with a couple of friends and cleaned up a beach,” he said.

“And I just keep on getting messages by people who want to help, and messages of encouragement,” he said.

Awareness and education were paramount when dealing with the issue of marine litter, which was really getting out of hand, he pointed out. But the authorities also needed to step in to take control of the situation, he said.

“The coastline should be cleaned up routinely to safeguard marine life, and also because our beaches attract a lot of tourism. It shouldn’t just be left to individuals to take responsibility,” he continued.

Most of the plastic items Galea Pace came across were polystryrene (gablo), often mistaken for food by marine life, nets and fishing lines, another source of marine fatalities, and plastic bottles and jerricans.

Just last week a fishing hook and line left a 17-year old loggerhead turtle dead on the sandy beach at Balluta Bay.

A mixture of love for nature, the sea and endurance training has driven Galea Pace to take on this mission.

“From when I was very young my dad taught me to respect nature and I wanted to mix the energy I had and the love for the outdoors to bring positive change,” he explained.

Mark Galea Pace camped at Qala on the nights between cleanups. Credit: Facebook

Out of the seven bays Galea Pace had cleaned up by Sunday morning, including Fomm ir-Riħ, Anchor Bay (Popeye’s village), Ras il-Qala, Santa Maria beach, Ġnejna, Marsaxlokk, and Paradise bay, he said the last two were the most shocking.

In a video Galea Pace shows Paradise bay buried in litter saying “this is not paradise island.”

“I loaded so many bags of rubbish in the boat from that beach I had trouble seeing when I came to leave, and in Marsaxlokk we collected 25 bags between us, but you could already see rubbish drifting back onto the shore as soon as we finished,” he said.

Now with half a day left to go, Galea Pace said that despite feeling exhausted, and ready to go home, he is already planning the next event of this kind.

“The number of people that have reached out to me have made me think of another event where others can get involved,” he said, explaining that his love for the sea, would drive him to continue raising awareness for this issue.

Nature Trust FEE Malta continues to appeal for donations to support its activities, including the rescue and rehabilitation of wildlife, the conservation of ecological important sites, and education for sustainable development. 

While some of its expenses like vet bills and medicines are covered by ERA, the NGO depend largely on community and corporate donations.