From Beachside Trash to Holiday Treasure

A vibrantly successful Long Island Sound shoreline cleanup takes an unconventional recycling twist through the efforts of eager Greenport School fourth graders and local artist Cindy Pease Roe 

On the morning of Tuesday, November 19^th, forty fourth graders and a handful of brave chaperones leapt off of a Greenport School bus and onto a gusty seashore at Truman’s Beach in Orient, NY. Using Rozalia Project’s marine debris record sheets, the students happily battled the beachside winds as they removed over 600 pieces of unnatural materials from one of their favorite summer spots. A sopping wet pillow and three dead rats in a plastic gallon jug later, the job was far from done. 

This second annual Greenport School beach cleanup was developed by local artist Cindy Pease Roe who has made her mark on the north fork of Long Island through all mediums of her creative genius within her studio that is tucked inside historic Hanff’s Boatyard in Greenport. Most recently, though, Roe has expanded her talent by transforming her personal collection of shoreline plastics into unique art forms. That is where the kids come in. 

When the data-filled clipboards were collected, and the heaping bags of marine debris gathered, the rubbish party reconfigured at Floyd Memorial Library for color sorting. As tables erupted with blue bottle caps, a yellow yo-yo, tarnished green rope and the like, the room buzzed with imaginative angst for what was to come. The students’ field trip continued the next morning when they joined Roe once again to craft holiday wreaths with their discovered, sorted and recorded materials. Afterward, these animated decorations were on display throughout Greenport School, decking the halls but also bringing awareness to a deeper truth. 

Of the nearly 650 pieces of recorded marine debris found, the most frequently occurring material was caps, lids and bottle tops, with 119 pieces recovered. In second was rope, coming in at 77 pieces, and third was plastic bottles, totaling 45. As most of Rozalia Project’s collected data has shown, our shores and waters are battling preventable pollutants. 40 fourth graders on Long Island shared these facts with their schoolmates and community through marine trash art; how will you encourage preventative action? 

This blog post is from 2013 intern, Kaleigh Wilson, a graduate of Roger Williams University. We asked Kaleigh to join Cindy and the Greenport students last fall to represent Rozalia Project and add an element of science and data collection to the excellent pickup and artwork that was already being done. We are grateful to Kaleigh for stepping up to participate and write this great report. In addition, Newsday Magazine published some articles about this event: 

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/li-life/rozalia-project-s-founder-seeks-help-for-waters-1.6542553

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/li-life/turning-beach-junk-cleanup-into-art-projects-1.6542224

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/greenport-students-make-wreaths-from-washed-up-plastic-1.6533763

Rozalia Project Intern Blog: An English Lit major taking action

Today's intern blog is from Kaleigh Wilson, English Literature major at Roger Williams. Kaleigh gives us a different perspective than our science majors and kicks it off with some Tolkien...

In 1931, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the following lines as a small portion of his grander poem entitled “Mythopoeia”:

The movements of the sea, the wind in boughs,
green grass, the large slow oddity of cows,

 thunder and lightning, birds that wheel and cry,
slime crawling up from mud to live and die,
these each are duly registered and print
the brain's contortions with a separate dint.

There exists a common yet unique understanding of the elements within our natural world amongst most humans, as Tolkien states. For me, this understanding takes on another dimension in which I feel a distinct connection to each one of these elements. I envy the cormorant and exchange patience with the trees. The ocean challenges me, and I am a grain within the sand. Growing up in a log cabin in the woods with a rural, ten minute walk to the shore must be the basis for this environmental bond, but I did not always know that truth. 

As I made my way about the outside world, it became vaguely apparent to me that this deep-seated coexistence that dominated my perspective was not entirely universal. A plastic cup crashed amongst the waves on Fire Island. A clear plastic shopping bag floated beside me at my favorite spot on Cedar Beach. An old cellophane balloon hung from the branches of the oldest oak tree in my neighborhood. It was confusing at first—this entanglement of the natural and the unnatural. 

When choosing a college to study at, I was naturally, and unconsciously, drawn to Roger Williams University: a liberal arts school with a rural, bayside campus. Two years later and halfway to a degree of some sort, I decided what my major would be—English Literature. It was a strange decision. I am not a diehard reader. I do not have a bountiful collection of my favorite works by my favorite authors. Now, though, two years later, I understand why I really chose it. 

The rule of thumb within my major, as I interpret it to be, is this: it is not always important what you are looking at, but how you are looking at it. It does not matter that The Iliad is an 800 page text about humans, gods, goddesses, and the Trojan War that occurred over 3,000 years ago, but it does matter that it is read with a clear knowledge of ancient Greek culture and custom in order to realize which concrete events translate to abstract significances. This analytical process that I learned during academic study allowed me, and continues to allow me, to understand our world today. 

Like Tolkien writes, we all know what the environment is—the ocean, the fish, the trees—but our world is bereft of a general understanding of how we are to interact with it. For me and many others it is an innate respect. For some it is a learned appreciation. I like to think that for the remainder of people it is simply a blank void. Enter Rozalia Project. 

My participation in Rozalia Project’s mission for a clean ocean is my duty. While I have been part of beach cleanups at home and organized a shore cleanup on RWU’s campus, I have never done my part on a large scale from the water itself. Although I have shared my strong environmental feelings with my peers, I have never educated groups of open-minded individuals on the motives and methods towards a clean ocean. I am proud and eager to say that my time aboard the American Promise will not only teach others how to connect with their natural surroundings on a sublime level, but will further my commitment to our beautiful Earth. 

Rozalia Project Intern blog: We don’t like to live surrounded by piles of trash, so why would they?

Today's blog post is from the enthusiastic Tara Silber, Marine Biology major at Maine Maritime Academy. See how a film helped inspire her to take action for our oceans...

Growing up in a family of beach lovers, I suppose I may have been destined to become one myself.  Though I lived in New Hampshire, we always spent at least a couple of weeks at our family cottage in Old Orchard Beach, ME.  Now living in Saco, we are just a 5 minute drive from that same beach.

When I was a sophomore in high school, we took a family vacation to San Diego, CA and visited Sea World.  It was then that I decided I wanted to go to school for marine biology to become a dolphin trainer…so I thought.  This stuck with me until my senior year, after I had already applied and been accepted to Maine Maritime Academy, until the night my mom rented the documentary The Cove.  This documentary changed my views entirely, and I believe it guided me to my true purpose in the field.  It was that night that my love for the health of the ocean and the organisms living within it really took me over.

When I started college the following August, though I knew I wanted to help animals, I had no idea where to start; I was terrified not knowing where my career in the field would go.  As I progressed through school, it started to become much clearer.  Whether I was learning about it in class or friends and family were sending me links to pictures and websites, ocean pollution was everywhere.  I’m sure we have all seen the pictures of birds with their stomachs full of trash and sea turtles whose shells grow misshapen from a piece of debris being stuck around them. Seeing these animals wrapped in plastic and netting absolutely breaks my heart.  As I continued to see this through my years at MMA, I knew I needed to get involved.  

Sea turtles and marine mammals became a favorite of mine long ago.  I think they are among some of the most beautiful creatures out there, and marine mammals are extremely intelligent.  Conservation and rehabilitation of species such as these would absolutely be my dream job.  Ocean pollution poses one of the biggest threats on these species, as well as numerous others.  The key to conserving these species is conserving their environment.

In September 2012, I had my first, hands-on experience with marine debris.  My friend and I volunteered for a beach cleanup with the Marine Environmental Research Institute (MERI).  MERI is based out of Blue Hill, ME and for the cleanup we traveled to an island off the coast of Blue Hill.  On the boat ride to island, they educated volunteers about products, such as soaps and cleaners, that contain small beads in them that most people don’t realize are plastic.  Once we arrived at the beach, you didn’t have to look very hard to find debris.  There was trash tangled around bushes and trees, buried deep into the ground, and tucked up into snail shells; I was absolutely horrified.  We cataloged everything we found, most of which was plastic, rope, and lobster buoys.  All of the salvageable lobster buoys were left by the loading dock on the mainland for fishermen to claim in an effort to recycle them.  I believe in the end we had collected 8 industrial sized trash bags of debris, and this was from just a small portion of the island.  The cleanup was part of the Maine Coastal Program’s 2012 Coastweek Clean Up, and all of the data we collected was sent to the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Clean Up Program.  Overall, it was a very eye-opening experience.

When I heard about Rozalia Project, I knew it would be the perfect opportunity for me to get even further involved and continue on my path toward a full career doing what I love. I am extremely grateful for such a wonderful opportunity to not only continue doing my part in cleaning, but also to reach out to young minds to help them see how they can help, too.  Sea turtles don’t know the difference between seaweed and a green plastic bag, and fish don’t know the difference between plankton and a microscopic piece of plastic; it is our responsibility to protect those who cannot protect themselves from the pollution and trash we have created.  Removing trash from the ocean provides animals with a healthy, enjoyable place to live. We don’t like to live amongst piles of trash, so why would they?  

Works Cited:

http://neptune911.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/entangle.jpg

http://blog.marinebio.org/2007/04/biodegradable-plastic-bags-a-good-solution-to-protect-sea-turtles-no/

http://penobscotbaypress.com/news/2012/sep/13/volunteers-needed-to-clean-local-beaches/

Rozalia Project Intern Blog: From "little fish" to Educator

Today's intern blog post comes from Kate Ranney, a Mass Communication major at the University of Delaware. Read how this PA native and summer sailing instructor came to love and want to protect the sea...

I have always felt a natural connection with the sea.  Growing up, my summers were mainly spent sailing on the Chesapeake Bay from port to port on my family’s thirty foot Catalina sailboat.  I absolutely adored helping to hoist the sails and jumping off of the bow with my sister.  My parents called me their “little fish” because I loved everything about the water.  In those days, I never really took notice of the brown, murky waters of the Chesapeake because I was so accustomed to it.  After vacationing to the Caribbean and seeing those clear blue waters,  I began to wonder what had made the Chesapeake look so dirty.

I remember one particular sailing trip to Baltimore that really opened my eyes to the damaging effects that our garbage has on the environment.  There was a huge amount of floating trash all along the harbor.  I was absolutely disgusted.  When my parents told me that it harmed the fish and other wildlife,  I just couldn’t understand why people would throw their trash into the sea so carelessly.  From that day on, I always made a point to pick up any debris I could find along beaches or other seaside places.  

All through primary and secondary schooling, my teachers made me realize how uneducated most people are about how to avoid harming the environment.  A lot of people do not know the difference between a banana peel and a plastic water bottle when it comes to proper disposal.  

Now, as a sailing instructor at a yacht club, I educate my students about how important it is to clean up after themselves and always properly dispose of their trash, recycling when needed.  Every day after classes have ended, I walk along the beach to make sure there is nothing left behind that could blow into the water.   As a Communications major, I feel it is my duty to spread the word about the Rozalia Project and how to save our oceans.  Being responsible about the environment does not take much effort at all.  

I absolutely cannot wait to be a part of the Rozalia Project!  Although it will take quite a while to reverse the immense damage that has been done, I believe that programs like this make a monumental difference in the health of the oceans and aquatic wildlife.  I want to take what I learn from Rozalia and use it to educate others and influence change in my community.  

Summer is coming... time to hear from our new interns!

Welcome to 2013! Like last year, we are very excited about and proud of our interns. They come to Rozalia Project from a variety of backgrounds, hometowns and colleges. They also come to us for a variety of reasons. This is the first in a series of twice weekly intern blog posts where our new interns will introduce themselves and tell us why they came to Rozalia Project. Check this blog every Monday and Thursday to meet a new intern as we get closer and closer to boarding American Promise and kicking off Mission Atlantic and Rozalia Project's cleanup, education and research this summer!

Our first intern in this series is Alyssa Lefebvre, a junior and Marine Biology major at the Florida Institute of Technology. Alyssa had a recent adventure SCUBA diving for trash as part of a Project Aware underwater cleanup!

If you are anything like me, it is likely that you are able to ramble out several ocean based facts such as, the oceans make up 71% of the Earth’s surface and contains 97% of the planet’s water, however roughly a 5% of these waters have been explored.  While I never was one for statistics, stats such as these catch my attention and tend to make me wonder.  If you are privileged to be SCUBA certified, (as I hope many of you get the chance to be one day) stop and think of all of the breathtaking places you have gone diving.  If you are more experienced, your list may go on and on.  But if you are somewhat new to the diving world, like am I, you may only be able to list a handful.  Regardless your number, realize that if at any point you think you have seen it all; remind yourself, with these percentages above, that you have come nowhere near seeing all that is out there.

My name is Alyssa Lefebvre, and I am thankful to be a part of the Rozalia Project’s 2013 internship crew.  I spent the first 18 years of my life living in Worcester, MA which is not far from Boston and the New England Aquarium.  Throughout my childhood, numerous trips to that aquarium were made and with each visit my passion for the oceans and its majestic creatures, grew.  For the past 3 years I have attended Florida Institute of Technology as I am pursuing a degree in Marine Biology.  Growing up in the north, the moment I moved to Florida it truly seemed like paradise.  I couldn’t (and still can’t) stop staring at all of the birds, the palm trees, the fish.  And the trash.

With beaches being mere miles away from my institution, I hate to admit to my parents that some days more of my time is spent on the beaches than in class.  However, the time I spend on the beach, I look for any obvious debris caught in the dunes or that have washed onshore.  Initially the large amounts of solo cups and McDonald’s wrappers astonished and disgusted me.  I had to remind myself that not everyone cares as much as some of us do.  I began picking up pieces of trash as I walked back to my car and quickly noticed that people saw what I was doing.  Many would approach me and commend my actions.  It was one day in particular, I turned around only to see a friend of mine picking up a piece of trash several steps out of our path, and glancing back at me with a smile.  At that moment I realized every person’s actions do matter.

As a member of the SCUBA club on campus, I help organize dives and take suggestions from fellow divers.  Dive Against Debris is a cleanup project organized by Project Aware which began in 1993.  They focus not only on having divers remove any pervasive debris that contaminates the reefs and sandy bottoms below, but they also require information that describes the underwater perspective to the problem and helps document underwater impacts of marine debris.  In February, I was able to participate in my first ever Dive Against Debris, and that led me to reach out to the Rozalia Project in hopes of being a part of their team.

Tires, golf balls, plastic bags and silverware all littered the reefs off the coast of Pompano, FL the day of our dive.  The group of us worked collectively to pick up the junk that had not yet become filled with marine invertebrates.  We piled the junk into our mesh bags which quickly became weighed down.  Not only did the vast amount of garbage fill me with the disgust and desire to never litter into the oceans, but also the amount of work it took to drag the heavy tires up to the surface from 40 feet below, helped me decide that no one should ever have to work this hard to keep our earth clean.

The Rozalia Project advocates that any action a person takes to help the ocean and the environment is important, and after getting the chance to see it and help clean it first hand, I fully supported it and wished to be a part of it.  No matter how big or how small, I want to help spread the idea that every action you partake in, truly does matter.  Let’s make actions as contagious as smiles.

Cleaning Vermont's Waterways: Hard working crews and recovering from Hurricane Irene

Rozalia Project put 41 people back to work and cleaned over 500,000 pieces of trash from along Lake Champlain and Vermont’s rivers as part of Irene recovery and partnership with the VT Dept. of Labor

Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean’s partnership with Vermont's Department of Labor,  employed 41 long term unemployed or hurricane affected people, during March through November 2012. Rozalia Project’s crews removed trash and hurricane debris from waterways throughout Vermont. Trash in our waterways, has multiple dangers from ingestion, entanglement to leaching toxic chemicals into Vermont's marine environment.

Here are our figures:

• 310.68 miles of Vermont's waterways cleaned
• 503,317 pieces of trash removed
• 88.5 tons of trash removed
• 41 employees put back to work
• 207 volunteers helped clean up 
• 488 clean up locations
• 161 exfoliant beads and resin pellets were found in one 6” by 6” sample at North Beach, Burlington

Locations Cleaned:

• Burlington crews cleaned the shores of Lake Champlain and the Winooski River
• Waterbury crews cleaned the Winooski and Dog Rivers
• Middlebury crews cleaned the Neshobe, Tweed and White Rivers, and southern Lake Champlain
• Randolph and Hartford crews cleaned along the branches and main-stems of the White River in West Braintree, Braintree, Randolph, Royalton, Hancock, Granville, Rochester, Stockbridge, Pittsfield, Bethel, West Hartford, and Hartford.

Vermont's Polluting Dirty Dozen: Thousands of the following items were removed by Rozalia Project’s cleanup crews who recorded every piece of trash recovered.

Food wrappers

Cigarette butts

Exfoliant beads

Building insulation foam

Beverage bottles

Beverage cans

Glass

Plastic bags

Bottle caps

Shotgun shells

Tires

Paper/tissue

Conclusions and Recommendations for a Clean Vermont:

Rozalia Project believes that we can clean Vermont's waterways and keep them clean for future generations to enjoy. We believe that a combination of  physical cleaning and modified practice will achieve Clean Water in Vermont.

Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean would like to see Vermont implement or grow the following programs.

1. Greater number of paired trash and recycling bins in public spaces along Vermont's waterways
2. Beverage bottle/can redemption program
3. Encourage biodegradable forms of exfoliant beads in cosmetics, face and body washes
4. Physical screening to stop exfoliant beads entering our waterways
5. Increased fines for dumping of trash
6. Education program at elementary school level, to the dangers of trash and how to dispose of trash and recycle responsibly
7. Tire recycling program
8. Single stream recycling
9. Hunter education

This program was made possible thanks to partnership with the VT Dept. of Labor and support from the Vermont Community Foundation, Waterwheel Foundation, Ben and Jerry’s Community Actions Teams, Lake Champlain Basin Program, Pomerleau Real Estate and dozens of nonprofit organizations, towns and individuals working very hard to make VT a better place than before the Hurricane.

Jumping right in: A new Intern's Perspective

I arrived in New York on Sunday evening, joining the Rozalia Project crew, along with another new intern, Zane. We quickly discovered that we have a bit in common, we are both from Michigan, and both go to Eckerd College in Florida. Most importantly, we are both passionate about finding and removing marine debris in any way that we can! The next day, we jumped right into duties as Rozalia Project spent the day at Larchmont Yacht Club. Throughout the day, we educated young sailors on marine debris and its impact on our oceans and waterways. I learned some shocking statistics from Rebecca as she presented- it takes around 450 years for a plastic bottle to break down into tiny microplastic! Kids and adults alike were enthusiastic in taking part in the  ROV navigation and were even more excited to pull up some trash. Our most interesting find was a fire extinguisher (Rachael and I accidentally discovered that it still works!). Zane and I were even able to practice driving the ROV on our very first day!

We spent our second day in New York at Beach Point Yacht Club and American Yacht Club. We had 3-year-olds, our youngest participants ever, at Beach Point in the morning. In the afternoon, we showed more students the ROVat American Yacht Club and pulled up a broom! Zane and I experienced our first Trash Race on shore with the kids and it was a whirlwind of trash and fun!

Wednesday brought a change of scene as we joined sailing students aboard the schooner Quinnipiack in New Haven, Connecticut and launched the ROV from her deck. Overall, we collected more than 286 pieces of marine debris and worked with 300 people of all ages over those three days!

The Rozalia Project crew is now in Portland Maine, where we will be educating, ROV-ing and collecting for the next few days. I am psyched to set sail towards Boston later in the week, as I am a beginner at sailing and I'm curious to see what debris may be awaiting us at the bottom of Boston Harbor.

Sarah Kollar, Rozalia Project Intern

A lot of marine debris and amazing interns!

Rozalia Project 2012 Summer Trash Tour: Session 1 Recap

What an amazing start to the 2012 Summer Trash Tour!  Starting June 3^rd, we boarded American Promise: Captain Kyle Vowels, first mate Sloane Suciu, interns Kayla Lubold, Laura Dunphy, and Blais Hickey, Rozalia Project’s director Rachael Miller and me, the Science and Education Coordinator.  Over the next few weeks we towed our nueston net off the Isles of Shoals, removed thousands of pieces of trash from beaches on Frenchboro Island and beaches around Kittery, ME and Portsmouth, NH.  We also tested out our new low bycatch neuston tow device called a Baleen Basker (bioengineered design based on a basking shark and baleen whale).   During the first few weeks of this session we also had some other interns assist us with our marine debris removal, research and education:  Andrew Randazzo and Connor Grant.  At the end of June, we attended the America’s Cup World Series races in Newport, RI and a new intern joined us: Marina Maze.  After the America’s Cup, we got another new intern, Laura Migliaccio and had to say goodbye to some interns who had been with us for the first portion of the summer session.  Next we began our education-intensive portion of the summer doing outreach programs in Edgartown, MA, Providence, RI, Newport, RI and finishing up with a week of education in Boston. 

In Boston we docked at our usual spot at Courageous Sailing Center on Pier 4 in Charlestown Navy Yard and hundreds of sailing students helped us remove trash from the bottom of Boston Harbor with our ROV.  Besides our visits at Courageous Sailing Center and Community Boating Inc., we worked with some new outreach partners in Boston this year and went to new locations, namely Harbor Discoveries Camp at the New England Aquarium, Camp Harborview on Boston’s Long Island, and Jamaica Pond in Jamaica Plains.  We were able to remove many bottles, cans, tires, ropes, and other miscellaneous pieces of marine debris from Boston Harbor, the Charles River, and Jamaica Pond.  We are very excited to be heading back to Boston August 18-24 when we will again dock in Charlestown Navy Yard and run programs at Camp Harborview, Courageous Sailing Center, Community Boating Inc. and Jamaica Pond!

We wouldn’t have been able to remove 24,039 pieces of debris and work with 2,945 people this summer already without the tireless efforts from all of our interns.  They endured through seasickness, heat, cold and rain to help us further our mission of removing marine debris.  Our fearless interns piloted the ROV, sailed at night, got covered in plankton, sand, and mud all to take trash out of our waterways and dispose of it properly. Their enthusiasm buoyed us all and their passion for our work is an inspiration.  I can’t speak highly enough about their professionalism; we never heard a single complaint out of any of them!  I feel lucky to have gotten to meet every single one of them and we couldn’t be happier to have them as part of the Rozalia Project team.

We also had some special visitors onboard American Promise throughout our first session who also aided us in our mission and gave us indispensable support and their expertise.  Thank you Martha Fisher, Art and Nancy Glidden, Sean O’Hallaran, and Allyson Wilson!

The next portion of the 2012 Summer Trash Tour will kick off with underwater trash hunting and STEM education with the VideoRay ROV Larchmont, American and Beach Point Yacht Clubs in New York City and with Schooner, Inc. on the tall ship Quinnipiac in New Haven, CT.  We will have a few more interns join us and some previous interns will be back to help us at various locations.  From August 10-12 we will have a table in the Ecozone! and operate our ROV as part of the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival in Burlington, VT.  Following that, we will sail with American Promise up to Portland, ME before returning to Boston to finish up our summer with more outreach programs and research of the density and distribution of marine debris in Boston Harbor.

We look forward to many more breathtaking sails, incredible interns, excited students, and meaningful marine debris removal in the month to come.  Keep checking back to read our new blogs as well as visit us on facebook.com/rozaliaproject, youtube.com/rozaliaproject, pinterest.com/rozaliaproject, and follow us on Twitter.

A Rozalia Project Rhode Trip!

On Wednesday July 11, Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean departed Edgartown, MA to begin our “Rhode” trip of the sea. 

First stop: Providence, RI

            We pulled away from Edgartown Yacht Club as the sun was rising to begin a potential day and a half sail to Providence, but the ocean must have been just as excited as we were to get there.  With great wind and a favorable current the entire trip, we made it to Providence Community Boating Center (PCBC) by 7pm that same day.  The staff greeted us enthusiastically as we docked American Promise and settled in for our 3-day visit.  We kicked off our stay Thursday morning introducing students from a local STEM education program to the top 10 trash items found in the ocean, giving boat tours, and using the ROV to go trash hunting.   In the afternoon, we had more fun learning about and picking up marine debris with young sailors from PCBC’s summer program.  Friday and Saturday were filled with similar programming, including several hours where the public was invited to explore American Promise and check out some of the work we do.  We also had some time to bond with the fabulous staff at PCBC as we broke out the paddleboards and Laser sailboats for an afternoon of water play and watermelon.  After picking up 1,823 pieces of debris and working with 130 participants we were reluctant to leave Providence, so we extended our stay one more day to get some extra boat work and data input done, but on Monday morning we said goodbye to PCBC and sailed off.  We did manage to take a little piece of PCBC with us, as a staff member, Sean, joined us for our sail to our next destination…

 

Second stop: Jamestown, RI

           Rozalia Project arrived in Jamestown several hours after leaving Providence.  Upon arrival we had just enough time to set up before the delightful children of Jamestown hopped on board.  We discussed marine debris, searched the ocean floor for trash with the ROV, and played the “Name That Marine Debris” game with 30 students and counselors from local camps.  The day flew by, especially with the help of Sean, and before we knew it we were getting ready to set sail again for our final Rhode Island destination.  Little did we know that American Promise would not want to start her engine.  After hours of fiddling with the engine, we began to accept that we would not be able to sail out that night and would have to make other arrangements to get to our programming the next day.  It wasn’t until well after dark that we heard the roar of the engine.  Captain Kyle and his brother Shane had saved the day!

Third stop: Newport, RI

            Rozalia Project docked at the Alofson Pier in Newport in the middle of the night.  We immediately passed out in our bunks to get some sleep in preparation for the busy 2 days in Newport.  Tuesday and Wednesday were action packed as over 100 young sailors from Sail Newport stopped by to learn about marine debris.  Between trash races, ROV, and one beach cleanup, we picked up 1,715 pieces of trash!  We couldn’t have done it without the excitement and enthusiasm of Sail Newport’s staff and sailors, so thank you all!

We are now safely in Boston preparing for another week of exciting education activities and marine debris removal.  Keep checking back to read more blog posts about some of the debris we are finding and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and twitter too (facebook.com/rozaliaproject, @rozaliaproject)

Data on data on data (and you do not need to be a scientist to get it)

Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean is about halfway through our 2012 season and, with the help of many excellent people on the coast and in Vermont, we have already collected over 143,000 pieces of marine debris!  18,101 pieces were collected since early June with our interns aboard American Promise. Here is a quick list of the top ten items we picked up along the coast of New England:

Top Ten
1	Foam Pieces	1191
2	Cigarettes/Filters	984
3	Rope	774
4	Food Wrappers/Containers	533
5	Small Plastic (5-30mm)	454
6	Plastic Bottles	337
7	Microplastic (<5mm)	307
8	Caps/Lids/Bottle Tops	296
9	Rubber Pieces	287
10	Large Plastic (>30mm)	247

The above list accounts for 5,410 pieces of collected trash, over a quarter of the total number collected this far (we picked up over 12,000 pieces of trash on Frenchboro - there was so much that we only counted the number but did not fill out our specific data cards).

There are three main ways in which we collect this trash, each of which is effective in its own way.  Land cleanups account for the majority of debris removal.  Like the name claims, this involves picking up garbage found on the ground near bodies of water.  This is important because trash on land can be blown into the water by wind or swept in with runoff after heavy rains.  The other two methods are used for removing debris directly from the water.  We use various nets (Neuston, dip-nets, and our own Baleen Basker) and drag them along the surface of the water while we sail in order to pick up anything that may be floating or near the very top of the water column.  Lastly, we use our ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) to explore and clean the ocean floor.  This underwater robot can be flown through the water using a control box that is very similar to a video game controller.  It has a camera on the front so that we can see everything the robot sees as well as a claw to grab any trash we find.

No matter which method we use, we fill out a data card every time we go trash hunting.  This ensures that we have a more detailed record of items we find so we can identify any trends in debris accumulation.  We break up the data card into five main categories (food-related waste, personal waste, fishing debris, industrial debris, other pieces), each with several sub-categories for more specific labeling.  With a little data manipulation, we are able to compare the percent debris removal of each category by each method to see which technique is most effective for a given trash category.  From the graph, we can see that collected trash during land cleanups is pretty much even across the five categories.  Surface tows, on the other hand, appear to yield small percentages of everything except “Other Debris”.  By digging a little deeper, we found that this could be a result of large amounts of microplastic that are found farther from the shoreline as larger items break down.  Surface towing is the most reliable method to collect these tiny pieces of plastic that we may otherwise not be able to see easily.  The ROV shows the highest collection rate for food-related waste.  This also makes sense because we often launch the robot off the side of docks where people dump either their trash or it blows from overflowing garbage cans.

As we continue to analyze our data, we are finding many interesting trends.  Check back in soon to see what else we have learned! If you are interested in helping Rozalia Project and your local waterway, we will be happy to send you a copy of our data card. Fill it out each time you and your friends and family do a clean up, send it to us and we will keep records to see how what you find compares to what we find.

Vineyard Sound Garbage Patch

The Vineyard Sound is known for its captivating shoreline as it leads boaters between Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard. With a beautiful 5 am sunrise on July 10, 2012 American Promise and the Rozalia Project crew set sail from Martha’s Vineyard to Providence, Rhode Island. After very little wind and 3 hours of motoring we found ourselves off of Cuttyhunk Island, which we recently discovered has been hit hard by marine debris washing up on the beaches.

Earlier that weekend, Pam, one of the great people we met at the Edgartown Yacht Club mentioned seeing a tremendous pile of marine debris that the locals have been collecting from their shorelines. This pile of garbage has been steadily growing, as there isn’t a clear way to get it off the island. The Cuttyhunk garbage pile was news to us, so we were paying attention as we approached that area on our passage.

With our on-going tideline research we have acutely trained our eyes to scan for large slicks of floating organic material. We call these slicks areas of accumulation, and we usually find them littered with inorganic material. It wasn’t long before we spotted a large slick with floating pieces of trash. As we approached the slick, we began noticing more and more garbage in the water. It wasn’t until the slick surrounded us that we realized how much trash was actually there. The amount of garbage was shocking, it knocked everyone off their feet.

We motored through the slick, all hands on deck, removing trash with anything we could find, dip nets, boat hooks and poles. We hoisted our intern, Marina, up the mast guiding us to large pieces off the horizon, such as a plastic 55-gallon drum labeled bait and a large plastic crate. After an hour and a half with 3 people grabbing trash from all areas of the boat, we made a significant dent in the amount of trash floating in the slick.

As we left the area, still grabbing trash floating by the boat, we began sorting what we removed. In the end we removed 244 pieces of trash, ranging from shoe insoles, burlap sacs, uneaten wrapped cucumbers and gloves. The most abundant items we found included 35 food wrappers, 23 pieces of Styrofoam, 22 balloons, 20 pieces of microplastic and 19 plastic bags. We were amazed at the sheer volume of garbage in the area.

You maybe asking yourself, why does trash accumulate like this in such high densities in such a huge ocean? In this case, it is due to the direction of the tide and, most importantly, the geology of the area. The law of physics states that water flows more quickly through small, narrow areas than it does through large, open areas. As water enters Vineyard Sound it speeds up through the narrow and shallow channel and slows down as the channel opens up into deeper water. The current associated with Vineyard Sound's ebb tide flushes water and floating debris down the channel southwest toward open water. As low tide transitions into slack, debris accumulates near the opening of the channel. As slack tide transitions into high tide, the accumulated debris is flushed back northeast through the channel, potentially adding more floating debris to the slick.

We can’t be sure how long our garbage patch had been accumulating. What we do know is that there is more work to be done in Vineyard Sound. We hope to return to the Sound with similar wind and tide conditions to see if a slick has re-formed and what has collected there. Our goal, as we encounter more of these slicks, is to get a good understanding of how and where slicks form so we can track them down and clean them up.

The Lucky Dollar Bill (and our visit to Edgartown)

Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean has arrived in Martha's Vineyard!  After a beautiful three day sail from Kittery Point, Maine, we received a warm welcome as we pulled up to dock at Edgartown Yacht Club on Thursday afternoon.  The beauty and charm of this town, as well as the graciousness of our hosts, made it easy to settle in and feel right at home.

After a much needed night of rest, we wasted no time in spreading the joys of marine debris removal and disposal as we began our stay with a public showing of our ROV at Memorial Wharf.  Hundreds of people passed by the area, checking out our underwater robot along the way.  There wasn't a whole lot of trash (which was a great thing to see!), but we did manage to pull out some BIG items!  After retrieving two tires, a few bottles, and some fishing materials (including a fishing rod), we made our way back to American Promise to wrap up the day with a few hours of boat tours and more ROV fun.

Much of Saturday was spent in the company of the amiable and generous David Murphy and family/friends.  A relaxing morning of swimming put us in a great mood for a day of debris removal.  We joined them for a delicious lunch and a good old Neuston tow.  We found several pieces of microplastic, tons of phytoplankton, a few crabs, lobsters, and needle fish (which we threw back into the ocean), but our most exciting find was definitely the $1 bill we pulled out!  Finding money in the ocean is a first for the Rozalia Project and this dollar has been dubbed our Lucky Dollar Bill and will be forever cherished.  After returning to American Promise, we donned our prettiest dresses and finest suits and made our way back over to the Murphy's home, where they hosted a beautiful party.  It was thrilling to meet so many interesting people who shared our love for the ocean and were so enthusiastic about our mission.

The last few days of our stay consisted of more ROV, boat tour, and education programs, including a fun session with EYC Juniors and Lunch With a View, as well as shopping in the charming shops found throughout the town.  We also had another chance to hang out with the Murphy family during a beach clean-up at the Gut at Cape Pogue.  After such a memorable and rewarding experience here in Edgartown we are sorry to go, but we are excited to make our way on to Providence where we are looking forward to three days of cleaning the ocean!  Check back in with us in a few days to hear about our adventures in Rhode Island!

Rozalia Project at the America's Cup World Series... really fast boats and getting people psyched to keep the ocean clean

For schedule and information about Rozalia Project's visit to Edgartown July 5-11, please scroll down or click HERE!

Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean has returned to Kittery, ME after a whirlwind four days of trash hunting, demonstrations, presentations, promotions and, of course, fantastic sailing at the America's Cup Series event in Newport, RI. 

We removed 53 pieces of marine debris with the ROV from a small area in the basin outside of Fort Adams, most of which was covered in a fine layer of sludge, crabs, and barnacles.   

Over 1,460 participants ventured to our booth and trash hunting tent, a picturesque spot situated perfectly between the race course and the race boats' moorings.  Hundreds of kids (and adults!) joined our support team, constantly running back and forth between the ROV on the dock and the screen on shore, marine debris held triumphantly overhead.  Our booth at the Exploration Zone also welcomed a steady stream of participants eager to learn more about our mission and all we do to remove marine debris.  


Rozalia Project ran our first Underwater Trash Hunt Challenge and congratulates Brad Read (Sail Newport), Martha Parker (Team One Newport) and Andy Green (AC commentator and pro sailor) for completing the challenge and getting the ROV to grab our trash-filled trap! Andy came out with the fastest time but we are impressed with all - as first time ROV pilots they showed some promise!

It is always a thrill to meet so many enthusiastic and supportive people who really care about doing their part to clean the world's oceans, and our Newport experience did not disappoint.  A huge thank you to our excellent host, Annie Becker, and thank you to Brad Read, Donna Kelly and the hard working crew from Sail Newport as well as all those who stopped by.  Cleaning the oceans is a grand task, and we cannot do it without you!  

We would also like to announce the first four winners of this summer's drawing.  In the upcoming weeks, we will complete a beach cleanup in your name and post an announcement and pictures on Facebook for each of your cleanups!  


Congrats to the following people:

Lucy Shea from Newport, RI

Chris Brett from Arrowsic, ME

Travis Bluemling from the Villages, FL

Kathy Clute from Bristol, CT

Remember to Like us on Facebook and check out our blog for more updates and photos from the summer's trash hunting activities!

Total trash count for Rozalia Project in 2012: 96,143

Our next adventure is a 120 mile sail from Kittery, ME to Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard, MA (via Gloucester and Provincetown). We have a full schedule featuring underwater trash hunting right from Memorial Wharf free and open to the general public as well as tours of American Promise, trash hunting, a program for junior sailors and special presentation for the members of Edgartown Yacht Club and their guests. See our Martha's Vineyard blog post or our Events and Shore Stops page for details on this as well as the rest of our shoreside programs. We hope to see you on the Vineyard... and beyond.

The current Rozalia Promise team: Blais, Marina, Rebecca, Sloane, Martha, Kyle and RZM

Discovering Garbage Patches in the Gulf of Maine

Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean

Discovering Garbage Patches in the Gulf of Maine

Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean recently conducted a research cruise on the sailing research vessel American Promise. On June 11th 2012, while on passage to Frenchboro, ME from Kittery, ME the crew of American Promise observed large accumulations of seaweed, wood and plastic floating marine debris in the area of 43° 20.50 N, 69° 50.20 W. These accumulations of organic and manmade matter extended for several miles on a northwest to southeast axis.

On the return journey from Rockland to the Isle of Shoals on June 18th 2012, we used a foam current model and sea surface temperature analysis from Tidetech to determine the potential location of marine debris accumulation. As predicted by our analysis we observed the  marine debris accumulation zone in the area of 43° 21.71N, 69° 41.11W. These marine debris accumulations again extended for several miles on a northwest to south east axis.

The Maine coastal current, as shown by the current model below, had its distal end in the area of debris accumulation. The lobe of cold water (56 degrees) is a good indicator of the presence of  the Maine coastal current. This current collects debris from the waters of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Maine and flows SW along the Maine coast. In the area of observed accumulation, the Maine coastal current peters out to zero,  thus becoming a probable marine debris accumulation zone. 

Tidetech Gulf of Maine Current Analysis 06.18.12 (click image to enlarge):

Tidetech Sea Surface Temperature analysis 06.18.12 (click image to enlarge):

The marine debris accumulations consisted of seaweed, wood in form of logs and branches, rope, net, plastic oil cans, plastic water bottles, lobster claw bands, Hooksett disks, plastic bags, plastic buckets, bleach containers and various miscellaneous unidentifiable  pieces of plastic (photo right).

The ability to identify accumulations of marine debris via current and temperature analysis is part of the cornerstone of Rozalia Project’s mission to clean up our oceans of this marine trash.

Rozalia Project believes that the oceans can be cleaned of manmade marine debris by identifying and locating accumulations, then using low bycatch marine debris nets remove this debris from the ocean.

Rozalia Project is currently testing a marine debris removal prototype called the Baleen Basker off the waters of the Isle of Shoals. Stay tuned on Rozalia Project’s Facebook page as well as this blog for up to date news and photos of the Baleen Basker, marine debris pick up, education and research from the surface to the seafloor.

James Lyne

Rozalia Project for a Clean ocean