The oceans are increasingly impacted by garbage, particularly plastics. Students will travel by skiff to Pine Island to participate in a beach clean-up, and learn about how debris in the ocean affects the organisms living there. We’ll measure and categorize our trash, participate in a global citizen science effort by logging our trash and discuss strategies for effective marine debris removal.

To prepare for this trip: Students should be in sensible footwear (sneakers, boots, crocs) for our exploration.

Bluff Point State Park is entirely outdoors- there is no gazebo or covered area. There are picnic tables available for meal times before or after the program. The park is a carry in-carry out space, there are no trash cans on site.  There are restrooms available at the picnic area closest to the parking lot. A note for buses: if using a charter bus, there is a bridge at the entry of the park that is too low  to allow the charter bus to pass through (school buses do fit under this bridge). Charter buses can  make a drop off before the bridge and participants can walk to the picnic areas (about a 5 minute walk).