Overview

On Thursday, June 29, 2023, The International SeaKeepers Society hosted a floating classroom with Girl Power Rocks, a nonprofit social change program aimed to empower and educate girls ages 11-17. We were joined by 26 girls and three chaperones at Pelican Harbor Marina where we boarded our DISCOVERY Yacht River Queen. While heading out on Biscayne Bay, we discussed the local watershed and the canal system that brings fresh water from the Everglades, creating the brackish environment that supports a diverse range of marine organisms and ecosystems. As we entered Little River we began to discuss sources of pollution in the bay such as fertilizer runoff, plastic pollution from the canals and sediment pollution from construction sites. The students showed off their knowledge about marine pollution and we discussed ways in which we can alter our practices as a coastal community to prevent further pollution to the bay. We collected a water sample from Little River and used our EarthEcho kits to test the temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and turbidity and we discussed how these parameters are used to analyze the quality of the water. We ended our day with a coastal cleanup on the picnic island Pelican Island, which is often frequented by people who leave their garbage behind. After collecting 12.5 pounds of trash, we headed back to Pelican Harbor Marina on River Queen while discussing what kinds of pollution were most common, and changes we can make to reduce our usage of single-use plastics. We are grateful to Girl Power Rocks for the opportunity to empower young women while teaching the importance of marine conservation and to DISCOVERY Yacht River Queen for making it possible!