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It’s Hurricane Preparedness Week! As we start preparing for hurricane season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Marine Debris Program is pleased to release the “Maryland Marine Debris Emergency Response Guide: Comprehensive Guidance Document” (Maryland Guide). The Maryland Guide is a product of a collaborative process with local, state, and federal agencies. The Guide aims to improve preparedness for response and recovery operations following an acute waterway debris incident in coastal Maryland.
Winter storms are fierce and powerful along the coast of the Pacific Northwest, capable of moving fishing gear far from where it was deployed. The peak of the Dungeness crab season is in the dead of winter, coinciding with storm season, a major contributor for gear loss. Lost crab pots and other derelict fishing gear harm the environment, pose a risk to navigation, and negatively impact the economy.
Tags Pacific Northwest removal derelict crab pots derelict fishing gearTo visitors of the Pacific Northwest, beaches along the Pacific Ocean and the Puget Sound seem stunningly beautiful and often pristine. A closer look reveals that these beaches, like beaches the world over, are impacted by marine debris that harms the ecosystem, creates navigational hazards, and negatively affects the economy.
Tags Pacific Northwest removal preventionDespite the fact that cigarette smoking is on a steep decline, cigarette butts remain the top littered item in San Francisco, and the most common item found on beaches around the world. They’re easy to miss, but once you see them, you’ll never “unsee” them. Surfrider San Francisco’s Hold on to Your Butt program has one ambitious goal: to end cigarette litter so we never have to see those butts again. Through volunteer power, the program works to bring awareness to the environmental impact of the cigarette flick.
Tags prevention CaliforniaCalifornia is not only home to beaches, super blooms, and stars, but is also home to 12% of the population of the United States, and the fifth largest economy in the world. With such concentrated human and economic activity, marine debris can be a serious problem. However, California is leading the way on waste reduction and marine debris prevention efforts.
Tags California removal preventionToday is World Water Day, a day to recognize that water is our most precious resource, needed by every single living thing on earth. In the Great Lakes, over 40 million people depend directly on HOMES (Lakes Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior) for drinking water. These lakes are the largest freshwater system on Earth and contain a fifth of the world’s water, adding up to more than 6 quadrillion gallons. Unfortunately, marine debris not only exists in our ocean, but can also be found in the Great Lakes and affect the quality of the water that we are drinking. Tiny plastics less than 5mm in size, called microplastics, dominate the waters of the Great Lakes. We don’t yet know how microplastics in our drinking water can affect human health, but we do know that preventing marine debris is a crucial step in improving the water quality of the Great Lakes.
Tags Great Lakes microplastics World Water Day