Snorkel Cleanup with Debris Free Oceans and Earth Breeze

Overview

On the morning of September 13th, 2024, The International SeaKeepers Society's Community Engagement team partnered with Earth Breeze and Debris Free Oceans to host a cleanup in South Biscayne Bay. We were fortunate enough to be hosted onboard DISCOVERY Yacht Satori, which we boarded at Crandon Marina along with 6 members of the Earth Breeze team, three Debris Free Oceans volunteers, and Debris Free Oceans and SeaKeepers staff. To start the day, we donned masks and fins, handed out mesh bags and dive scissors, and hopped into the water at Nixon Beach Sandbar, an area heavily trafficked by boaters on the weekends. This area includes a shallow sandbar but also extends outward into the Bay where several seagrass beds already in need of our protection are at a great risk due to increased pollution levels from marine debris. We remained in the water for just over an hour and a half, but our amazing volunteers and team managed to remove more than 77 pounds of trash from the water, and even got some surprise visits from a baby octopus and several yellow stingrays. After checking all our trash for critters, we boarded D/Y Satori and headed to two picnic islands near Coconut Grove for a shoreline cleanup. These mangrove-covered islands serve as important ecosystems for marine animals and seabirds but unfortunately become marine debris hotspots, making them a critical location for conservation efforts. Our volunteers crushed it here as well, removing 137 pounds of trash from the two islands in no time at all! To close the day, we discussed some of the strange findings of the day and what we can do in our daily lives to reduce overall plastic use and help keep Biscayne Bay clean. We give a huge thank you to Debris Free Oceans and Earth Breeze for collaborating with us, to D/Y Satori and Captain Brett Ury for hosting us, and we look forward to leading future efforts to help keep these highly trafficked areas of Biscayne Bay healthy!