Wednesday, February 8, 2012

The War on Trash - Lessons Learned from a Remote Beach Cleanup

Photo by Mike Wheeler

On November 17th 2011, the Surfrider Foundation's Olympic Peninsula Chapter partnered with the Makah Tribe, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary conducting a beach cleanup on a very remote northwest beach. The debris collected both previously and on the day of the cleanup operation totaled more than 1800 pounds . The debris was brought to Arnold and Debbie Schouten's residence in Port Angeles where it was examined by Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer, Jim Ingraham and student volunteers. Dr. Ebbesmeyer's team discovered a large black buoy which possibly represents the arrival of tsunami debris from the recent Japanese tsunami. An ongoing effort by the Japanese Consulate and others is currently underway to determine the specific origin of the black buoy and other debris.  The Chapter would like to thank all volunteers who helped make this day happen.

Read the full article here

1 comment:

Adrianne said...

Wow I am very impressed. I was down on this beach on Tuesday. There is a lot of new debris including more large styrofoam pieces that have washed in. The idea of trying to pack trash back up that hill is very daunting. There is quite a lot of new (since last month) styrofoam and buoys (not the big ones but the "mickey mouse" looking ones) around the headlands to the south as well.