The award winning ’Bertie the Sea Bass’ arrived in Pembroke Dock on Monday to help raise awareness on the impact of plastics in the seas.

The 14 by seven-foot sculpture is located outside Pembroke Dock library and will be in town until mid July.

Pembroke Dock Town Council are working in collaboration with Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum who have arranged workshops within the local schools and beach cleans for the children to promote the Clean Seas message

Main lead on the project for Pembroke Dock, Councillor Joshua Beynon commented: “I’m so pleased Bertie is finally in Pembroke Dock after planning his visit back in 2018.

“Bertie the Sea Bass sends an important message to us all about plastic pollution and how we can all do our bit to reduce the amount of plastic we consume.

“On current levels we are on course to put more plastic in the sea than fish by the year 2050 unless we start to take action soon.

“So come along and visit Bertie, take in the message and tell everyone to cut down on their plastic when they can, we must do everything to protect the environment,” he added.

Tim Brew, Education Manager at Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum said: “We’re excited to support Pembroke Dock Town Council in tackling the rising tide of marine plastics.

“We look forward to working with our partners on enabling local schools, community and businesses to take action.”

Designed by local sculptor Gideon Petersen, ‘Bertie the Sea Bass’ is made form stainless steel and is filled with ‘beach clean’ plastic.

‘Bertie’ who is also solar powered and lights up at night recently helped Amroth Community Council scoop the Environment Award at the One Voice Wales Innovation Conference with the seaside village’s ‘Clean Seas Project’ coming up trumps.

The Sea Litter – Take Action project led by the Amroth Community Council, in collaboration with Saundersfoot Community Council, was a community response to the United Nations Clean Seas Challenge, the Visit Wales Year of the Sea 2018 and the public concerns raised by Blue Planet 2.

Its aim was to raise awareness and change behaviours to reduce marine litter, while promoting the both communities as environmentally friendly destinations.

The sculpture was made for the Turn the Tide on Plastic project, with support from Arwain Sir Benfro, PLANED and Valero.