Another Successful Shore Sweep!
On Saturday, June 28, 2025 at 9:00 AM twenty-one Baykeepers gathered on the beach at the Moran Road Right-of-Way to remove from the Hanford Bay shores as much non-organic waste as possible and especially anything plastic. This was the first shore sweep this year and the collected items could have turned out to be mundane, but perhaps surprising too.
In preparation for sorting the found items, a variety of containers were labeled to accommodate reporting the collected materials to the Ocean Conservancy. That organization has been operating for 51 years to help create solutions to help protect the ocean as well other bodies of water and wildlife from global challenges.
After a brief welcoming speech from a member of the Baykeepers Steering Committee about what to look for, groups of sweepers set out in different directions to cover the beach from end to end. Fortunately, the weather cooperated and did not hinder efforts to collect items.
After about an hour, sweepers began to return to the sorting tent to put their items into the appropriate collection containers. Members of the Steering Committee helped them, since it can be tricky as to what category an item belongs to. For example, a battered vaping device was found. In the three years that there have been shore sweeps, we have not seen one of these. Of course, once it was determined what it was, that device went into the E-cigarettes category for reporting purposes.
Each time there is a shore sweep, it is expected that something quite unusual may be found on the beach. This time it was a 3 foot long piece of plastic composite flooring! Wow. We wonder who is missing a piece of their floor.
The end results of this particular sweep were that 71 pounds of materials were collected that fit into 27 categories! As usual, a large number of small plastic/foam pieces were collected: 432 pieces. Fortunately, those pieces will not have a chance to further break down into micro-plastic pieces! In addition, the 64 cigarette butts that were collected also will not be left to break down into micro-plastic pieces either. These specific items serve as reminders that plastics do not disintegrate. They just keep breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces which increases the risk of them being harmful.
Thanks to all who participated in this shore sweep! Your efforts helped reduce the risk of the collected materials harming the environment and potentially harming the health of people and animals.
The next Shore Sweep is scheduled to take place on Saturday, 9/20/2025 at the same location and at the same time. If it rains that day, then Sunday, 9/21/2025 at the same time and place will be when we have the sweep. Until then, enjoy the summer!
Below are some images from the Shore Sweep. To view them, click on the first image and then click through the other images.
