The stretch of the fine sandy beach at Teluk Aling in the Penang National Park in Malaysia appeared clean at first glance but proved otherwise to a group of people taking part in a coastal clean-up. Hidden among the creepers and vegetation at the top of the beach were loads of rubbish, including a rusty anchor and a broken computer printer. Some 150 volunteers who took part in the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Penang 2009 also found plastic bags, polystyrene containers, cigarette butts, slippers, clothes, fluorescent light tubes, fishing nets and pieces of zinc among other rubbish. Besides Teluk Aling, they also combed the nearby 300m-long Pantai Pandak during the two-hour clean-up.
The participants collected 2,517 items, weighing a total of 677kg, which filled 67 trash bags. The clean-up was organised by the Centre For Marine & Coastal Studies (Cemas), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Lions Club International District 308 B2 and ICC Singapore.