Environmental organisation Tangaroa Blue has conducted a clean up of Myall Beach at Cape Tribulation, removing thousands of peices of marine rubbish. 

Over 6,500 seperate peices of rubbish were removed from the beach, weighing in a total of 138 kilograms of debris. 

Small shards of worn-down plastic were the most common article recovered by Tangaroa's 18 volunteers. 

These peices of 'microplastic' are proving to be a much greater threat to marine life than previously thought, being consumed by corals and damaging their insides.

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As with all Tangaroa beach cleanups, each peice of rubbish was catalouged and entered into the Australian Marine Debris Database, providing invaluable data to scientists tracking the flow and distribution of marine rubbish. 

Heidi Taylor from Tangaroa thanked the volunteers and local businesses at Cape Tribulation that assisted with the cleanup. 

"Ocean Safari leant us several beach trolleys that were very handy for moving bags of rubbish around, and Mason's Cafe provided discounted meals and a swim to cool off.

"We're told this is the first time in several years that a cleanup has been conducted on Myall Beach, so it will provide very valuable data to the Australian Marine Debris database."