(WSB photos/video unless otherwise credited)
Before grabbing pickers and bags, that throng of International Coastal Cleanup Day volunteers gathered for a group photo just west of Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza. As previewed here earlier this week, Ocean Conservancy partnered with Puget Soundkeeper to host this local event as part of the international observance, the first time an International Coastal Cleanup Day flagship event has been held at Alki Beach Park. And they learned before heading out onto the sand and the streets that every little bit helps, literally. First they got the big picture from Ocean Conservancy’s Nick Mallos, vice president of conservation for ocean plastics, about today’s worldwide effort:
Puget Soundkeeper’s executive director Sean Dixon got into the specifics of what was most important to look for while cleaning – a lesson you can apply to even a simple informal cleanup while you’re at the beach (or out at sea): In short, look for small plastic pieces, which can end up not just in the water, but also inside fish, marine mammals, and seabirds:
Going for the small stuff, as was encouraged, the hundred-plus volunteers collected 142 pounds in about two hours of work on Alki.
(This photo and next by Patty Chambers, courtesy Ocean Conservancy)
If you’d like to join the cleanup movement – or are already active – you don’t have to wait for the next event; Ocean Conservancy also offers the Clean Swell app, where you can contribute to what OC says is “the world’s largest repository of marine debris data and is used to inform scientists, conservation groups, governments, and industry leaders about ocean trash and support plastic pollution prevention and advocacy efforts.” Meantime, one more simple thing you can do is use less plastic – today’s volunteers got a souvenir that’ll help with that:
This year’s International Coastal Cleanup Day worldwide stats aren’t tallied yet but these numbers from last year are eye-opening.
… It’s so bad every time I’m there.We are so lucky to have a cleaner Alki, who cleans almost daily and came to me with bags and buckets and grabbers There has also been a memorial and they left hundreds of fake rose petalsLater in the day I responded to a juv gull entangled in a fishing net in the West Duwamish waterway I know so many folks who clean up trash every single day. I love them all❤️
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