By Rob Hay
A team of contractors spent a long hot day on the beach yesterday working to remove the mass of seaweed dumped on the sand at Mount Maunganui last weekend.
A bobcat, tractor and trailer were all used to remove the seaweed between Moturiki (Leisure Island) and Tay St after it washed up during a particularly high tide and rough seas.
Operations manager Chris Whitham said they were two thirds of the way into the job when contacted by the Bay of Plenty Times yesterday afternoon, and they had already removed about 20 truckloads of seaweed.
He estimated each truck load contained 8-9cu m of waste.
The seaweed was taken to a makeshift dumping area until Environment Bay of Plenty decided what should be done with it. Mr Whitham, said the overcast conditions helped in the clean-up because fewer people were at the beach than normal
"It's lucky it's not such a flash day. It's always a worry when you're working around the public, especially in such a huge area."
He said the public had been very accommodating.
The rotting seaweed was beginning to smell quite badly and contractors were called in by Tauranga City Council after fielding complaints about the odour.
Mount Maunganui Surf Lifesaving Club president Kent Jarman told the Bay Times on Wednesday he had not seen so much seaweed wash up since Cyclone Bola struck 18 years ago.
Offending seaweed cleared from beach
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