Clean Coast is a Savannah based non-profit, volunteer organization which works to combat marine debris by holding monthly beach and marsh cleanups on the Georgia Coast.
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April 21 - Earth Day Cleanup at Fort Pulaksi
Celebrate Earth Day by getting up early to kayak the tidal creeks around Fort Pulaski National Monument to collect the trash which has accumulated in the salt marsh. Don't worry if don't have a kayak. We will be providing kayaks free of charge to anyone who needs one. Sign-up online and let us know how many kayaks you will need. We will be getting an early start (8:00am) to take advantage of the high tide and the cooler temperatures.
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March 3 Cleanup a Record Breaker for Clean Coast
After collecting 170 bags of trash from the shoreline of Onslow Island on the Savannah River, the 50 plus volunteers from Clean Coast, the Ports Authority, and the Friends of the Savannah Refuge, realized that they had merely scratched the surface and that future trips will be necessary to cleanup the decades worth of trash which has accumulated at this site. It just so happens that a group of young people from Michigan State University were on their way to Savannah on an alternative Spring break. When they arrived a few days after our event, we sent them to the wildlife refuge to pick-up where we left off and they collected another 100 bags of debris for a record breaking grand total of 270 bags of trash from one site. Sadly more remains and we will need to return a few more times to get it all cleaned up. Check out the photos here.
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Big Cleanup Planned for March 3
The 30,000 acre Savannah National Wildlife Refuge is adjacent to one of the busiest ports on the East coast. Unfortunately, this means pollution is a problem faced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who manage this important tidal freshwater wetland habitat. Clean Coast plans to make a dent in the most visible form of pollution which affects the refuge - trash. Huge amounts of it have accumulated along the shoreline of the Savannah River so we need lots of volunteers to help with this one. Sign up online and we will email detailed instructions including driving directions.
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| Trash on Savannah River Shoreline |
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Little Tybee 2012
We're off to a good start with the first cleanup of 2012 successfully completed. The weather was cold and windy but 30 stalwarts showed up and collected approximately 660 lb. of trash from 2 miles of beach. The pictures say it all and we've got lots of them in the photo album.
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| Skiff loaded with trash from Little Tybee. |
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| Plans in Place for New Year!
We've made a good start on our 2012 Trip Schedule. Our first cleanup of the year will take place on Little Tybee Island on February 11. Plans for some of the 2012 events remain tentative and some of the places and dates may change.
The month of January is reserved for the Annual Oyster Roast. This year we will enjoy delicious local oysters on Sunday, January 22, starting at 2:00 p.m. It's a fun way to renew your membership and connect with other Clean Coast members. A small group of hardy Clean Coast volunteers will harvest the oysters the day before from Chatham County's public oyster beds on Oyster Creek. You won't find oysters any fresher or tastier than these anywhere else. Click here for more details and driving directions.
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| Scene from last year's oyster roast. |
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The Far Reaching Effects of Marine Debris
Photographer Chris Jordan traveled to one of the most remote places on earth and found victims of plastic marine debris - the carcases of Laysan albatross chicks who starved to death on a diet of small plastic pieces gleaned from the water by their parents who mistook the plastic for food. The entire album of disturbing photos from his tour of Midway Atoll can be seen on his website. He writes:
"To document this phenomenon as faithfully as possible, not a single piece of plastic in any of these photographs was moved, placed, manipulated, arranged, or altered in any way. These images depict the actual stomach contents of baby birds in one of the world’s most remote marine sanctuaries, more than 2000 miles from the nearest continent."
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| Click photo to see entire album. |
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