Biscayne Bay Island Cleanup with SeaKeepers DISCOVERY Yachts

Overview

On Saturday, November 23, 2024, The International SeaKeepers Society hosted the first Biscayne Bay Island Cleanup engaging multiple DISCOVERY Yachts. SeaKeepers’ Community Engagement team was joined by 10 volunteers at Matheson Hammock Marina, where we boarded local DISCOVERY Yachts and headed up to the Dinner Key Picnic Islands right off the coast of Coconut Grove, Miami. Transportation to the picnic islands was made possible thanks to D/Y Aventura, captained by Bill Fernandez, and SeaKeepers’ Research Vessel DISCOVERY II, captained by Aubri Keith. Our team of volunteers arrived at Dinner Key Picnic Island C, where we were greeted by very dirty shorelines in need of some attention. We got to work removing trash from the shallow water, deep in the mangroves, and around the picnic tables, bagging it up to be removed from the island. The City of Miami Parks and Recreation Department implemented a Leave No Trace policy on this island and many others in May 2024, ending any trash removal contracts and encouraging visitors to leave the island as clean as they found it. Unfortunately, the majority of the trash we collected had clearly been left by visitors, while some seemed to have washed ashore in last week’s King Tides. In just two hours, our team of volunteers collected over 400 pounds of trash, including some odd items like a generator, alongside typical plastic, glass and aluminum litter. Thanks to our DISCOVERY Yacht captains, we were able to transport this trash back to the mainland to dispose of it properly. We are so grateful to our volunteers and D/Y Vessels who made this cleanup possible, and are excited to host more frequent island cleanups for our volunteers!