|
Coastsweep 2004 Many thanks to all the participants at both our Fall 2004 Fort Wetherill and Canoe Beach Cleanups. Although divers tend to me more aware of the problems of marine debris and remove trash from each dive, new divers might need to be reminded. Not only do we have to be careful with the picnic items we bring to the beach (always carry in-carry out) we need to always take just a few moments before we leave to gather any trash that might be there. The best way to do that is to make it a part of your shore diving check off list. After your diving take 5 minutes to remove some deadly marine debris from the shoreline. Fishing line and bait bags are the worst. If you need trash bags and gloves to keep in your automobile then let me know. Stock up. If you are a frequent shore dive leader you can obtain, from me, extra bags and gloves. You can even stock up on trash data cards and fill them out each time you remove trash. Even if it is just a 5 minute cleanup. This is vital, this data is literally being used to revise national maritime disposal policies and is used to advance environment-protecting legislation. Not only have I personally removed trash from stomachs of marine animals and rehabilitated marine animals that were entangled, I have been entangled in fishing line while diving as well. Cleanups don’t have to be just once a year! Along with the usual picnic and fishing trash items removed, also removed were cell phones and television parts. Trish, our membership coordinator, removed over 15 golf balls and a beginner fishing kit (not even opened yet) from one of her dives at Canoe Beach. Didn’t make a cleanup this year? Check out the dive calendar for 2005. I usually plan 4 each year. If you can just make one, I recommend the Canoe Beach event. It is our most popular event. Check out the photos (and on website) to get an idea of how much fun you can have. Special thanks to Anna, our club secretary, for taking photos and Michael Schruben for providing fun critter display and touch tanks. The club also provided healthy snacks, sandwiches and beverages. All our participants received one of the new NEADC water bottles. Thank you Fred Calhoun and Veronica Atlantis for donating some of their published books for our lucky volunteers. Thank you to the staff at the NEU Marine Lab for their continued joint effort in making it such a fun filled day. This year Mike Schruben and I setup and donated some tropical fish we collected in RI for their new 100 gallon tank for their up and coming outreach education center (in the bunker) so be sure to join us in 2005 to see how much they’ve grown. -Alicia Lenci, Environmental Officer
October Tropical Fish Hunt Photos
September 19, 2004 Tropicals Collecting Trip
Sealdive with Capt Rob on Aug 27
2004 Sealdive Photos Photos by Steve Whitford
Canoe Beach Cleanup
Earthday 2004 Cleanup at Lane's Cove
Dive into Earth Day on April 24, 2004 was a blast. Thanks to Alan Budreau, Kevin O’Conner,
Brandy Derickson, Jeff Pearson, Michael Schruben, Kevin Taback and Don and
Diane Mitchell. Special thanks to Don
and Diane for donating plenty of heavy duty trash bags. You all made it so much fun for me! So did the loon which arrived first in the
cove to amaze us with its skill at catching crabs. Along the shoreline, we filled 12 bags, approximately 200lbs, of
trash. Most of which was rope, fishing
line, shot guns shells, beer cans and bottles, tampon applicators, beverage caps,
dunkin donut coffee cups/napkins, straws and a bunch more trash. Don found some plastic toy army men. So far from my research I have not been able
to determine that they were set a drift from a container ship cargo spill. (I am still looking “First Years” rubber
ducks and other rubber animals that are due to show up along our coast. They
were spilled in middle of the North Pacific in 1992, but more about this next
month) Alan found a circa 1914 spit
fire spark plug. We also removed an
automobile tire and an old bar stool from the coastline. Alan was the first in the water since he
knew the winds were going to pick up. The rest of us waited for the water to return a bit and then took the
plunge. The vis was typical spring
conditions what I like to call, Impressionistic, Monet-like vis of the
area. Excitingly “blurry” depending on
where you were in the water column. The
winds did pick up as predicted by Alan, and it cut my dive short and I think
others too. Surge and chop became the
ocean and I witnessed my very first sea anemone “rescue” performed by Michael
Schruben. Michael discovered a sea
anemone that seemed vulnerable to the surge and chop in the water column. I saw him scoop it up and swim to a nice
boulder cluster to let the critter reside there. Thanks to our efforts from previous years we’ve made a
difference. I am happy to say sea
anemones, actively feeding, out numbered the trash below the surface. We left the water with a few golf balls and
beer cans. Thanks again to this year’s
participants! You shine!
-Alicia Lenci, Environmental Officer |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ©2009 by the New England Aquarium Dive Club, Inc. All rights reserved. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
