Greetings CINC volunteers:
Under normal circumstances we would ask CINC members to join NOAA staff in
supporting our partners at the Santa Barbara Harbor Waterfront Department
with their annual marine debris removal event -- however, since we are
still on hold due to covid I thought I would share this opportunity with
you for consideration on your own time (If you decide to participate, you
will not be hosted by our agency so please do not wear your uniforms or
mark this time down as a CINC activity).
You can contact Chris Bell, listed below, to RSVP (you can tell him you
were referred by Shauna).
Many thanks,
Shauna
*OPERATION CLEAN SWEEP*
[image: Photo of diver handing litter to volunteer]The seafloor in any busy
harbor may be littered with lost or discarded junk, impacting the
environment just like litter on land. Ever wonder, “What’s down there,
where does it come from and does anybody ever clean it up?”
On Sunday, May 16th you’ll find out.
*Santa Barbara Harbor’s Operation Clean Sweep, a seafloor debris cleanup
program, holds its 13th annual event on Sunday, May 16th*. A team of
volunteer divers, supported by 40 or so volunteer dock workers, will remove
junk from beneath Fish Float North and the California Urchin Divers
Association Dock. Divers will locate the junk and dock volunteers will cart
it off for disposal.
The event begins at 8:00 a.m., with a briefing on the Travel Lift Pier
beneath the Harbormaster’s Office, complete with free coffee and donuts,
and concludes with a hearty box lunch at 11:30 a.m.
During past events, volunteers—many of them “Clean Sweepers” from the
start—removed a total of 21.2 tons of debris from Santa Barbara Harbor.
Items retrieved during past years ranged from bicycles, barbeques, plastic
barrels, and boat propellers to pipers, wire cages, outboard engines,
phones, computers, and the occasional marine battery.
The City of Santa Barbara’s Waterfront Department joins volunteers from
NOAA, SB Maritime Museum, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, SB Sail and Power
Squadron, Santa Barbara Surfrider Foundation, Channel Islands Marine &
Wildlife Institute, and harbor dive businesses in this effort.
For more information about the event or to volunteer, call Chris Bell at
(805)618-8642 or email at CBell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
https://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/waterfront/events/cleansweep.asp
