‘THROW jelly - not balloons’ is the message from Looe wildlife lovers as a summer season of water events begins.

Looe’s popular Raft Race will be happening on June 10, and traditionally, spectators and participants have thrown water balloons as part of the high jinks.

But the balloons are made from plastic or rubber, and as well as posing a danger to animals, they contribute to a growing tide of ocean pollution.

Not wanting to be killjoys, the Looe Marine Conservation Group (LMCG) has found a simple answer.

‘Last year, we came up with Throw Jelly Not Balloons,’ said Gill Bridges.

‘Our goal is to help people make their own conscious decision not to buy or bring balloon water bombs to water events. But we don’t want to stop people having a bit of fun!

‘As a conservation group, we’d rather not be encouraging anyone to throw anything into the river,’ she continued.

‘But the novel alternative of throwing jelly made from agar – a seaweed – which is colourless, odourless and environmentally friendly, reinforces the message that we should all be thinking about finding alternatives to plastic that do no harm to the environment.

‘Balloon water bombs do not biodegrade and are harmful to marine animals which mistake them for food.’

Volunteers from the LMCG will be manning ‘jelly stations’ at the raft race and will fill sandcastle buckets with agar jelly for free.

The group is also encouraging people to make their own agar jelly in advance of the event, and they say the recipe is simple to follow, with Agar Agar powder easily obtained from health food shops or online.

Agar jelly is a better alternative than dessert jelly, says LMCG; sweet jelly contains ingredients that could potentially harm sea creatures.

Looe’s efforts to protect the marine environment has gained attention all over the county and beyond, and other seaside towns look to follow suit as they hold their own regattas and summer events.

‘It’s not a question of stopping people having fun, it’s about us thinking about the impact our actions have on others and our environment,’ said Gill.

‘Water festivals and regattas are such a highlight of the summer calendar in our rivers and beaches across Cornwall.’