150 Volunteers Clean Cape Town Harbor on World Oceans Day

When 150 people showed up to clean Kalk Bay Harbour this World Oceans Day, they made history at one of Cape Town's most beloved fishing spots.

The June 6th cleanup was the biggest yet for the annual event, now in its ninth year. Kalk Bay Harbour has served as a working fishing harbor for generations, famous for its colorful boats and fresh yellowtail catches.

But beneath the surface, a different story unfolds. Trash blown from harbor moorings and washed through stormwater drains settles quietly on the seafloor, invisible to visitors enjoying the scenic coastline.

Twenty divers plunged into the water, marked by orange buoys as they collected fishing lines, plastic cutlery, and wrappers from the harbor floor. On shore, about 50 young surfers from Ocean View and Lavender Hill traded their usual Saturday surf session for gloves and trash bags through Waves for Change.

Eight volunteers from NSRI Station 16 drove 18 kilometers from Strandfontein to provide safety support. "We love this harbour and want to keep it pristine," said Clint Abrahams, the station's Deputy Commander.

The Ripple Effect

The cleanup is creating something bigger than a cleaner harbor. Over eight years, organizers have built one of Cape Town's most detailed coastal pollution records, hand-counting and cataloguing every item collected: more than 8,500 cigarette butts, 2,500 sweet wrappers, and nearly 600 bottle caps.

After each cleanup, False Bay Recycling sorts through the waste by hand, keeping as much as possible from reaching landfills. The data helps track pollution patterns and guides future conservation efforts.

Robyn Cohen, COO of Waves for Change, sees the event as a gateway to ocean protection. "My wish for World Oceans Day is that more people who haven't always had access to the ocean start seeing the ocean and the beaches as safe spaces," she said.

When people connect with the ocean, protecting it comes naturally. The cleanup brought together Tracy Kwaii, a sixth-generation Kalk Bay resident, children from the Fisher Child Project, and volunteers from organizations across Cape Town.

Even shark and ray egg cases recovered during the cleanup were carefully set aside, a reminder that this work protects marine life along with the community that depends on these waters.