An environmental group has announced its annual campaign to rid more than 60 beaches of litter.

The Island-Wide Coastal Clean-up, organised by Keep Bermuda Beautiful and EY Bermuda, will take place over ten days.

Angel Smith, the executive director of KBB, said the clean-up had been “a flagship event for over two decades,” with EY Bermuda lending assistance for 15 years.

She added: “Last year alone, 706 volunteers participated in 46 clean-ups, removing more than 73,000 pounds of marine debris, litter and illegally dumped waste from 17.16 miles of coastline and 3.3 miles of seabed.”

Ms Smith said that 65 clean-up sites had been earmarked while others were to be confirmed.

The campaign started today with the accounting company’s Bermuda branch targeting Horseshoe Bay Beach.

Mike Penrose, EY Bermuda’s associate partner, said: “We at EY Bermuda are proud to call this beautiful island home and are dedicated to safeguarding its unique and fragile environment.”

He added: “Many of our employees eagerly anticipate the opportunity to roll up their sleeves, remove litter, combat ocean pollution and contribute to KBB’s mission of keeping Bermuda beautiful.”

The campaign will include a community clean-up of Kindley Field Road in St George’s tomorrow morning to coincide with World Tourism Day.

Staff from BermudAir, Skyport, the Hamilton Princess, the Bermuda Tourism Authority and the Bermuda Pilot Gig will participate as members of Bermuda’s tourism industry.

The Island-Wide Coastal Clean-up will continue until October 5.

Ms Smith said that the Island-Wide Coastal Clean-up was still Bermuda’s most comprehensive initiative in marine pollution removal.

She said that data collected through the clean-up assisted the International Coastal Clean-up to track global pollution trends and inform solutions.

Ms Smith added that Bermuda’s placement in the North Atlantic Gyre gave it insight into how debris and nurdles — small plastic pellets — circulated through global currents.

She said that this insight could be used to help international groups to track and combat the flow of debris.