Monthly Morningside Park Cleanup with Surfrider FIU
Miami, Florida
October 12, 2024
Overview
On the morning of October 12th, 2024, The International SeaKeepers Society hosted our monthly cleanup at Morningside Park in Miami partnered with Surfrider FIU. We were joined by 37 volunteers who received a quick background briefing on the area and some of the hotspots to search for trash around the park before they grabbed gear and spread out around the park. Over the last few weeks, South Florida has been inundated with the effects and aftermath of several major storms, including two hurricanes, which we expected to lead to a massive amount of trash near the waterline around the park. Our volunteers were able to collect data to be shared with scientists on the most common types of trash through the use of Citizen Science app Marine Debris Tracker. After just two hours of hard work, we had removed more than 315 lbs of trash from the park, leaving behind a cleaner ecosystem for people and animals to enjoy. Volunteers found a wide range of trash and waste items, including some larger items such as boat parts that likely became marine debris during these storms. We wrapped up with a discussion of the watershed and how despite the storms making it visible and easier to clean, the majority of that trash was already in the system due to anthropogenic sources. By reducing our plastic use and opting for sustainable alternatives, the park would not have nearly as much waste even in major storm events. We give a huge thanks to our volunteers for joining us and for their incredible work, to Surfrider FIU for partnering with us, and we look forward to hopefully seeing some of them at future events!
Marine Debris Tracker is a data collection app that allows the general public to contribute to an open-date platform and scientific research by recording the different types of litter, specifically plastic pollution, that they find in either inland or marine environments.
Marine Debris Tracker was developed by the University of Georgia’s Jambeck Research Group, which SeaKeepers worked with in 2021 when the Jambeck Research Group collaborated with Ocean Conservancy to assess Miami’s plastic waste management, known as a Circularity Assessment Protocol. SeaKeepers again assisted the Jambeck Research Group’s Circularity Informatics Lab in 2022 with another Circularity Assessment Protocol in the Florida Keys. The researchers of the Jambeck Lab use the Marine Debris Tracker app to record their data, and with citizen scientists also using the app, more data can be collected in different areas. Using Marine Debris Tracker at our cleanups involves community members in creating a bigger picture of plastic pollution, and provides the means for new scientific findings to be generated as well as for effective local legislation to be informed. SeaKeepers is excited to be incorporating this app at our cleanups and continue our mission of coastal education, protection, and restoration. In this cleanup, 27 percent of volunteers participated in using the app to record data.
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