LUKE and Sophie Stenhouse came across some fishing wire whilst taking a stroll to Shoal Bay beach recently.

Sophie spotted the fishing line which then resulted in a family effort to remove it from the rocks where it was jammed.

Mum, Kate Stenhouse said, “Both children were insistent that we had to remove it and put it into the bin.”

Sophie told her mum, “We have to move it because it will kill some of the animals.”

Sophie, a keen gymnast said, “I am very sad that people leave rubbish on our beach and do not take it home to put in their bin.”

Both children are very aware of how sensitive the ocean and its inhabitants are and how people are not really taking care anymore.

Luke, 9 years of Nelson Bay, is a passionate basketball player is learning guitar and both children are regulars at Fingal Beach SLS Little Nippers.

Luke also enjoys watching David Attenborough and Steve Bagshaw’s Deadly 60.

“I feel like people are not really caring for our ocean very much and I feel we need to have more responsibility for our rubbish,”  Luke said.

The Stenhouse family follow the Take Three For the Sea principle.

This means whenever they are at the beach they pick up three pieces of rubbish left by other people and dispose of it correctly.

Kate said, “I am really proud of my children and their knowledge of the damage plastic does to the marine life in Port Stephens.”

“The children currently help out at Orca by handing out fliers and when they are 15 years they will join me in becoming a qualified marine mammal rescuer,” Kate said.

How wonderful it is to see our children of the area setting a good example for the adults.

 

By Mandy ELLIS