October Cleanups

This past month has been one of our busiest months yet! We had two wonderful groups come out to help cleanup Lido beach.
The first cleanup group of the month was the Saltmeadow School group. Their enthusiasm helped them collect approximately 54 pounds of trash including an unusually large amount of abandoned toys, even though the International Coastal Cleanup was less than two weeks before.
The second group, the Manatee-Sarasota Nature Lab, was ready to start removing trash even before everyone was ready. They collected approximately 64 pounds of trash including a pigs foot, lots of wood, and some large pieces of concrete.
Both groups were amazing and I saw several who would probably start independently removing trash the next time they go to the beach.

Beach Cleanups

Join us on the 17th of September and/or the 2nd of October  across from 400 Benjamin Franklin Drive, Sarasota (small covered area between Lido Beach Concession Stand and Lido Beach), for an afternoon of Beach Cleanup and a possible snorkel cleanup from 9:00-10:00am (the snorkel cleanup will depend on the water conditions. Snorkel cleanups will extend the time from 10 to about 11am. Snorkel gear will be available for the first 3-4 people who want to borrow a mask and snorkel). Reusable cleanup bags and gloves will be provided. I will discuss any animals that are found along the way. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or to email me at oceanpreservers@gmail.com

Stow It Don't Throw It

    At the Youth Ocean Conservation Summit last year, I received a grant to construct 200 Stow It Don't Throw It bins. The bins are made out of discarded tennis ball containers and are made for fishermen and other people who might encounter monofilament line in the environment.
    So far, a box full of the bins have been given to Save Our Seabirds where they are available for patrons to take home and use. I plan on giving some to our local bait shop soon since a lot of fishermen go there.
    Sean Russell is the project director of the Stow It Don't Throw It Project and he started the Youth Ocean Conservation Summit. The next Youth Ocean Conservation Summit is on the 14th of November, 2015, at Mote Marine Laboratory.

May 20th Snorkel and Beach Cleanup

Common Snook

During the beach and snorkel cleanup last Wednesday, we collected about 27 pounds of trash from a small section of mangroves on the beach. A lot of that weight was contributed by a rusty flywheel. During the snorkel part of the cleanup, we saw many species of marine organisms including common snook, black drums, sheepsheads, spotted sea trout, an atlantic spadefish, pinfish, spot tail pinfish, grey snappers, Florida rock snails, a variegated sea urchin, and lots of small juvenile fish.

Sheepshead

Flywheel and A Metal Marking Pipe

Weird Wednesday: Tennis Racket

This tennis racket was found on Lido beach. It was high up on the beach and obviously did not wash up from the ocean. I am not really sure why some one would leave their tennis racket on the beach or why someone would bring their tennis racket to the beach in the first place. I also often find tennis balls on the beach, but none were found when we found the tennis racket.

April Kayak Cleanup

During our April kayak cleanup, we were encouraged to see much less debris than on our prior kayak cleanups. 

I found some items that I brought home and cleaned in order to reuse. This is a plastic serving tray from a local restaurant - encrusted with marine organisms. One day, when I have a place of my own, I won't need to purchase any kitchenware. Reusing marine debris is a great way to prevent it from reentering the environment. 

We stopped at Ken Thompson Park and removed some single use plastic items that were along the nature path. The park has a large amount of litter - some items appear to be washed up, but a lot of items are just disguarded on the ground by park visitors. I am currently working on ideas of way we can educate visitors on the problem of marine debris.

Plastic bags and single use, plastic water bottles are commonly found. These items take energy to produce and are generally only used for a very short period of time. Currently, most plastic bags are not being recycled due to the price of oil being so low. If there isn't a profitable market for recycling, things will not be recycled. Additionally, many recycled plastics are being shipped off to other countries such as China for recycling there. If you have ever smelled burning plastic, you can imagine the pollution caused by plastic recycling. Just another reminder to refuse single use plastic. Bring your own, reusable bag to the store and use a reusable water bottle. Currently, our state government is considering allowing individual counties to make their own laws about plastic bags (HB661 and SB966). This is very important because marine life often mistake plastic bags for jelly fish and other food. A quick google search for 'plastic bags and sea turtles' will turn up many images.

One of my favorite parts of our cleanups are coming across marine organisms. This is why we do what we do - to help provide a safe and clean environment for the abundant species that live in and along our waterways, like this cute spider crab.