The Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve (BBAP) team assisted the DEP Southeast District permitting team with vessel support to perform a permit verification for a newly proposed mooring field. While awaiting further information from the applicant the team collected three small bags of trash in less than an hour, protecting the bay now and for the future.
Recently NWFLAP staff participated in the 32nd annual Day of Caring Event organized by United Way of Northwest Florida. We hosted a group of volunteers to help us with our first planting event of the season! On Day of Caring, 68 projects and 713 volunteers came together across two counties to make an impact in our local community. We partnered once again with Pensacola Energy to kick off planting season on the islands of Project Greenshores.
The Southwest APs and DEP South District Offices Conduct Cleanups for DEP Stewardship Day
On October 25, Noah Singer, Marine Debris and Outreach Specialist, of the Florida Keys Aquatic Preserve (FKAP) team participated in a beach cleanup organized by CoastLove, a non-profit conservation organization in South Florida. He was one of 40 attendees who collected over 800 lbs. of trash in just under 3 hours. Over half the volunteers were youth from the local community!
Staff from the Florida Aquarium assisted Tampa Bay Aquatic Preserve (TBAP) staff on Friday as part of TBAP’s “Day of Action” service program. They worked on an island in the Pinellas County Aquatic Preserve to remove marine debris and invasive plants. The Florida Aquarium regularly provides staff for this type of work. TBAP is thankful for their continued support.
The Fishy Fashion Show exhibit and opening night were a mixture of joy, silliness, education, seriousness, and creativity. These are essential ingredients of success when trying to get an important message out to the public. Artist Joan Matey’s costumes made of marine debris delivered a message both powerful and fun.
On September 20, BBAP hosted the Pelican Harbor Marina cleanup for International Coastal Cleanup Day (ICC). Over 30 volunteers got to work picking up small debris, like microplastics and bottle caps, and stumbling upon larger debris, like a rusted bike. In total, 248 lbs. of trash were removed from Pelican Harbor Marina.
On International Coastal Cleanup Day, Rookery Bay staff and volunteers met at Shell Island Road (SIR) within the reserve for a successful cleanup effort. The morning began with just a few participants, but the group quickly grew to include more than a dozen volunteers, staff and students from Florida Gulf Coast University.
On Saturday September 20th, employees from the FDEP Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection (RCP) traded their desks for the shoreline to take part in the 40th International Coastal Cleanup, hosted locally by Keep Wakulla County Beautiful (KWCB). This annual event unites volunteers worldwide in a shared mission: protecting oceans and shorelines from marine debris.
This week NCAP participated in the International Coastal Cleanup event held at Linda Peterson Park by the IFAS/Sea grant office on the coast of Hernando County. NCAP staff, and some staff from BBSAP, launched out of the Bayport boat ramp on the airboat to retrieve hurricane debris in the areas further away from where event volunteers on kayaks could reach.