Bermagui's Karen Joynes is passionate about marine wildlife and lifting awareness of the many ways that people can help keep them from harm.
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As a member of No Balloon Release Australia, she is frequently sent information about wildlife becoming entangled with debris.
Fellow supporter Glenn Merrick sent her a photo of a pelican being rescued after becoming entangled in fishing line near Spencer Park in Merimbula.
Mr Merrick said an "amazing lady" waded out into the water and caught a pelican that was entangled with fishing line.
"She calmly and skilfully restrained the bird and, with assistance from a bystander, managed eventually to cut the mass of fishing line that had entangled around its wing."
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Rescuing, rehabilitating animals in distress
The photo prompted Ms Joynes to call out "the amazing group of people at Australian Seabird & Turtle Rescue", which Kristen Vickery has been volunteering with since early 2021.
"We understand that accidents do happen, but it's what happens afterwards that determines the fate of a bird," Ms Vickery said.
"If you call us for help, then we can save these birds from immense pain, suffering and needless death."
The group is always looking for volunteers.
Building strength for Arctic migration
Ms Joynes said the site of the rescue was likely an intertidal area.
They are vital for shorebirds to feed and build up their reserves for their flight back to the Arctic.
She said it is therefore important that people keep their dogs on a leash in such areas to avoid disturbing the birds.
"If they don't have the strength they will die along the way," Ms Joynes said.
New recycling initiative
The photo also prompted Ms Joynes to mention a recycling initiative of Tangaroa Blue which she said has a saying "if all we ever do is clean up, that is all we will ever do".
Among other things, Tangaroa Blue runs a database on marine debris.
When it launched a campaign to reduce recreational fishing litter in 2020, it identified there was no recycling program for recreational fishing items and their single-use packaging.
The Rig Recycle program was developed to divert recreational fishing items either collected from clean-up events or that fishers wanted to dispose of, from landfill.
The collection and recycling system accepts marine debris and broken and unwanted fishing gear, as well as single-use packaging items like fishing line spools and hard plastic tackle packaging.
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