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 WHO: You!
WHAT: Second Annual Channel Islands Marine Park Marine Debris Clean-Up WHEN: SATURDAY MAY 2, 2009 WHERE: Meet at Auke Bay and we will provide a boat ride to the islands in the Park. Last year, Turning The Tides (TTT), the local environmental education organization, organized the first Channel Islands Marine Park marine debris clean-up. Event participants collected over six hundred pounds of marine and other debris from the islands in the Park. TTT has begun planning for the second annual Channel Islands Marine Park marine debris clean-up. This years clean-up will be held on Saturday, May 2. This year our goal is to expand the clean-up and collect a half ton of trash or more! These islands are an incredible treasure for Juneau. They need some sprucing up. In order to make this event as successful as possible, we are looking for as many community volunteers as possible AND, volunteers with boats. We have applied for grants to pay for expenses such as gas for the boats. There are 7,700 acres of land on these islands and some shorelines collect an amazing amount of marine debris. We will not run out of marine debris to pick up. Please join us. If you would like more information, have questions or comments, or wish to volunteer, please contact Bob Sylvester at
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. He looks forward to hearing from you. If you know of anyone who might be interested in joining this project, please pass this notice along. Thanks very much. Save the Date: SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2009 |
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Dr. Marcus Eriksen, Director of Research and Education at Algalita Marine Research Foundation, returns to Juneau after completing an 87-day voyage from California to Hawaii in a 30-foot raft made of 15,000 plastic bottles and a Cessna fuselage. He and film-maker, Joel Paschal, undertook this challenging expedition to call attention to the growing problem of plastic trash in the Pacific Ocean. Their route took them through the “North Pacific Gyre”, an area larger than the size of Texas, where ocean currents concentrate plastic debris. “The most ubiquitous trash out here is plastic and the most common I would say are fragments of plastic bags and water bottles," Dr Eriksen said. "You find bottle caps all over the place and micro-fragments of plastic film as well. We need to change our culture from one of a disposable culture to one of sustainability - it is the best thing we can do this century." News media from the BBC, CNN, and ABC to The Hindi, India’s national newspaper, covered the voyage and both sailors posted daily to their blogspot, junkraft.
Dr. Eriksen and Anna Cummins, an Education Advisor for Algalita who provided ground support for the voyage, will speak on the extent and danger of plastic pollution in the ocean and describe the adventure aboard the Junk raft.
The first presentation will be on Monday, September 22 at 7 P.M. at the UAS Egan Lecture Hall and the second will be on Tuesday, September 23 at the Downtown Nickelodeon at 5:30 pm. In addition to the two evening presentations, they will also speak to 4th and 5th graders at Gastineau Elementary School, speak at the Ocean celebration, and enjoy some downtime in rainy Juneau.
During Dr. Eriksen’s visit to Juneau in 2007 he supervised the construction of Turning the Tides’ plastic-bottle boat, Plastic Poison, and testified before the legislature on Senator Kim Elton's bill to assess a fee to plastic grocery bags.
His speaking tour is sponsored by Turning the Tides and Turning the Tides at UAS as part of the Ocean Celebration on September 21 and International Coastal Cleanup on September 20.
For more information or to schedule an interview, contact Carol Anderson at 586-2410.
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Volunteers from Turning the Tides and the community will pick up shoreline debris on the Channel Islands Marine Park, Alaska during July and August of 2008. Six groups of volunteers will travel to a different set of beaches in boats large enough to safely carry the volunteers and the trash. Each boat must either be able to land on the beaches (landing crafts) or have a zodiac or other boat capable of safely carrying volunteers to the shore and ferrying the trash back to the larger boats. The mother ships will anchor or stand by waiting to receive the trash. The smaller near-shore islands will be cleaned by kayaking volunteers. A member of Turning the Tides will accompany each crew and document in writing and in digital pictures a proportional estimate or the sum total of the type and amount of marine debris collected and note the location of items too big or too hazardous to be removed with the boats. Volunteers will not pick up glass bottles, hazardous substances or wood. Plastic and aluminum will be recycled and other material will be transported to the landfill. The beach cleanups will be scheduled during July and August but will be rescheduled in the case of inclement weather. Every attention will be paid to the safety of our volunteers. TTT will obtain insurance coverage for the project. |
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Saturday, May 10, 9 AM to Noon TTT signed up to clean the beach by the North Douglas Boat Launch Area. We will meet at the parking area just beyond the North Douglas Boat Launch Area. Yellow bags for trash, green bags for recyclables provided (no glass recycling for this event) Come for an hour, or more!!! The more folks, the more we pick up.... We should car pool -- email Bob if you have or need a ride --
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For more information on the Juneau/Douglas-wide event see http://www.litterfree.org/ Post-event update: Turning The Tides members took part in the Litter Free day in Juneau. TTT members worked at the Outer Point area of the North Douglas highway and the adjacent beach to pick up trash. While litter pick up does not adequately address the problem of plastic in the environment, it is a way to partner with other concerned citizens and bring awareness to the general public. |
Turning The Tides is actively working to promote awareness of the U.S. Navy's proposed use of Mid-Frequency Active Sonar (MFAS) during exercises in the Gulf of Alaska. This sonar has been implicated in mass whale strandings, deaths, and disorientations (Bahamas 2000; Hawaii 2004; many others).
Responding to pressure from legal challenges and the increasing controversy over the effects of active sonar transmissions on marine life, the Navy has initiated an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process for sonar exercises in several ranges off the coasts of the U.S., including the Gulf of Alaska.
We are trying to alert Alaskans to this issue, and to encourage them to learn about the impacts and comment during the EIS process. The first phase of this process (scoping) is now underway, with a deadline of April 30, 2008. There will also be further opportunities to comment during the Draft EIS phase. |
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