[SEMCO] CoastSweep on Bass River and beyond this coming Saturday

[Ryan Mann]

*VOLUNTEERs neededfor coastsweep CLEANUP in Dennis and Yarmouth ON
September 23rd*



Since 1987, volunteers throughout Massachusetts have turned out for the
annual COASTSWEEP cleanup organized by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal
Zone Management (CZM). Each September and October, thousands of volunteers
collect literally tons of trash from beaches, marshes, river banks and the
seafloor. As part of COASTSWEEP Friends of Bass River and the Yarmouth
Conservation Department are organizing the local cleanup in areas around
the Bass River as well as Sound facing Beaches.   We will gather at Bass
River Beach at 9:00am to distribute supplies and break into small teams to
visit several areas throughout town.  We will then return with all the
waste collected before noon.  We are also looking for boaters willing to
use their vessels to get to areas no accible by land.

COASTSWEEP participants join hundreds of thousands of other volunteers in
the world’s largest volunteer effort for the ocean—Ocean Conservancy’s
International Coastal Cleanup—collecting trash, fishing line and other
marine debris and recording data on what they find. This data is used to
find solutions for keeping trash out of the ocean.

To volunteer for the cleanup, please contact Ryan Mann at the Friends of
Bass River at rmann at friendsofbassriver.org or Kelly Grant, Yarmouth
Conservation Administrator at kgrant at yarmouth.ma.us.  You can also simply
show up on the day of the event although on the water volunteers should
register ahead of time.    Light refreshments will be available.  A rain
date will be Sunday, September 24th.

Sources of marine debris include people littering, trash blowing out of
trash cans and cigarette butts washing into storm drains that connect to
the ocean. Marine debris is more than an eyesore, it can also directly harm
sea life and humans. Sea birds, seals and other animals can be choked,
starved or poisoned when they mistake debris for food, and wildlife can
become entangled in nets, bags, ropes and other trash. Beachgoers may
injure themselves on pieces of glass, wood or metal while swimming or
walking on the sand. Debris also poses a threat to navigation—propellers
can become jammed with fishing line, boats can be damaged by colliding with
large pieces of debris and plastic can clog cooling intakes. Because much
of the trash collected each year comes from street litter, it is easily
preventable by always using secure trash bins and recycling as much as
possible.



Educate, collaborate and preserve are the three basic tenets of the Friends
of Bass River. A detailed website has been launched as well as a presence
on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For more
information, please visit www.friendsofbassriver.org .
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