Nature is returning to Australians the trash they carelessly leave behind in the country's beaches. Reports said that over 4,500 pieces of rubber footwear were washed up in a Queensland beach.

The thongs were part of the 5 tonnes of rubbish recovered during a five-day cleanup by Tangaroa Blue, a marine conservation group, of the Chili Beach, located north of Lockhart River.

Heidi Taylor, organiser of the clean-up, disclosed that the 60-strong crew did not find any matching pair of footwear. Besides the thongs which were washed up from other Australian beaches, Tangaroa Blue also recovered toothbrushes, combs and plastic containers.

More than half of the haul was made up of plastic, including bleach bottles used by Papua New Guinea fishermen to stun fish. Other finds include foam pieces from weather balloons and plastic resin pallets that resembled fish eggs.

The garbage haul is believed to come mostly from visitors since the local population is only nine.

In Sydney's Newport Beach, it was the carcass of a dead whale that was washed up, A National Parks and Wildlife spokesperson said the carcass was that of a young 10-metre male humpback.

The parks authorities are meeting with the Pittwater Council to determine how to remove the dead whale. Because the mammal is estimated to have died three to five days ago due to natural causes, the whale emits a very strong foul odour.

Authorities have closed the Newport Beach to swimmers in the meantime.

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