On Monday, September 8, nineteen volunteers teamed up with representatives from Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, Island Packers, Santa Barbara Adventure Company, the Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation to clear approximately 650 pounds of trash and fishing gear from Chinese Harbor on Santa Cruz Island and Driftwood Cove on Anacapa Island.
During the day-long cleanup effort, the group targeted two areas, beginning with the removal of trash, fishing gear, and remnants of boat debris from Santa Cruz Island in the morning. They moved to Anacapa Island in the afternoon, where they collected items buried among the piles of driftwood, including drink bottles, shoes, Styrofoam, plastic debris, and more. Volunteers used kayaks and a skiff to transport the trash from the shore to the Island Packers boat, which ferried the debris back to the mainland for proper disposal.
The Channel Islands are home to some of the most ecologically diverse ecosystems in the world and many endangered species, making the removal of debris from these remote areas especially important.
Marine debris poses a significant threat to the Channel Islands’ delicate ecosystems and wildlife. Trash from the mainland, along with lost fishing gear, is transported by wind and currents to the islands. This waste can accumulate in large quantities in the shallows and along the beaches, where it can degrade vital habitats and threaten the biodiversity and health of the island’s native
plants and animals, many of which are found nowhere else on Earth. Sea birds, marine and terrestrial mammals, and fish can mistake plastic for food, leading to ingestion that can cause internal injuries, malnutrition, or even death.
“Removing marine debris from the shorelines of Channel Islands National Park and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is crucial to protecting the local ecosystem,” said Michaela Miller, Senior Conservation Manager for the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. “This cleanup effort showcases the power of collaboration, and we’re proud to work alongside our partners to steward these waters and remove debris from these fragile environments.”
This marks the sixth year of collaborative cleanups at the Channel Islands for this group. The event is part of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation’s broader initiative to remove marine debris from five marine sanctuaries across California, Washington, and the Gulf of Mexico, with support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program.
“Bringing community volunteers to join our partners in these large-scale cleanups on the remote shores of the Channel Islands is a program highlight,” said Molly Troup, Science and Program Manager for Santa Barbara Channelkeeper. “Participants are always amazed by the everyday items they pick up twenty-plus miles across the Santa Barbara Channel. We hope these experiences inspire greater advocacy efforts needed to help address the plastic crisis at both the local and global scale.”
Also Read
- Student Success Cards provide Santa Barbara Public Library Access for all SBUSD Students
- Habitat Santa Barbara gets approval for $400K grant from Local Housing Trust Fund
- Santa Barbara Zoo celebrates birth of twin red panda cubs — first in more than 30 years
- Global Warming, Wildfire Risk Could Change the Future of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo Wine Regions, Finds Study
- Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics Expands Affordable Behavioral Health Services for Santa Barbara County Residents
Absolutely appreciated. But we do need better laws to regulate the plastics industry. Let’s keep working for legislative action that can be enforced to make producers of this material responsible for its safe end use recovery.
Thank you!
You need to look into how far out container ships have to be outside the channel before they can dump anything they want ,including all their trash that they are to cheap to offload, other than the 17 mile boundary.
Comes straight back at county beaches because of the N-S current.
I have surfed VSFB for 45 years and there is all kinds of ship trash, most of it unrecognizable from what is was as it was dumped leaving the SB channel going north and coming back at the beach.
Same thing at the Islands.
Yeah, those container ships are always dumping fishing gear.
They may not dump fishing gear but they dump huge amounts of trash. They also dump their waste. They regularly lose containers at sea that contain all sorts of harmful materials and they do not attempt to recover any of it. It has been reported that when the tariffs were announced shippers simply pushed their goods into the ocean because it was cheaper to return to base lighter than to continue on and have the goods refused as too costly. etc
Cargo ships drop tons of long line gear and trawler nets.
Maybe fishing boats do, but not cargo craft.
Again, that is not fishing garbage, unless fish are biting on plastic crap, styrofoam, and cigarette lighters.
I seem to remember conversations here regarding Cruise Ship pollution on both air and water.
It is from container ships and cruise ships that dump their garbage 17 miles out. It is typical protocol, not just outside the SB Channel, but everywhere in the US.
When was the last time you saw a cruise ship and a trash barge outside the SB harbor?
Show me pics of them off loading trash, except Chinese crap you all buy, in San Pedro and maybe we have a conversation.
You don’t because they dump 17 MILES OUT
They may have found some fishing gear but not in those pics.
What’s with all of the discarded fishing gear in these photos?
Thank you!