Esquimalt Lagoon clean-up 2016

Last week first year Marine Science students spent one block picking up garbage from Esquimalt Lagoon and a second block producing artwork from the garbage that was collected.

F block marine scientists

Camila, Sho and Jaime collecting garbage

E block marine scientists

Back at the lab students sorted and quantified the garbage.

Jill sorting beach garbage

Laura’s collection on 22 Feb.

Then they produced pieces of art with their garbage.

Adi & Aurora

Leila & Maya melting plastic pieces together

And here are some of the results:

Ploypailin & ‘Race Rocks’

Jaime & his sea turtle

Jazmin & Johnny’s boat

Camila & Sho and their whale

Ilana & kaleidoscope

Ochuko & Eskil’s message

Navo and ‘Pedder Bay’

Stefan, XueMeng, Martin & their minion

One particularly odd item to report, Aurora & Adi found a tin can which was still sealed so they opened it at the beach and it seemed to contain a message – not sure what it means though…

Aurora and the unopened can

Alphabet soup!

Message in the can?

And finally here are the data for all three days (22, 23 and 24 February):

1011 Plastic pieces
957 Styrofoam bits
133 Caps, lids
85 Food wrappers
83 Straws / stirrers
70 Cigarettes / filters
62 Shotgun wads & shells
33 Bags
27 Rope
23 Lighters
22 Tampon applicators
16 Coffee cup lids
16 Lollipop sticks
9 Tobacco packs / wrappers
9 Condoms
9 Papers & paper bags
8 Coffee cups
8 Shoes & shoe pieces
8 Toys
7 Balloons
7 Nurdles
7 Metal pieces
6 Plastic utensils
6 Plastic beverage bottles
6 Combs
5 Glass beverage bottles
5 Beverage cans
5 Pens
5 Dog poop bags (full)
5 Glass pieces
4 Fishing lures
3 Syringes
3 Lottery tickets (not winners!)
2 Six-pack holders
2 Bottle caps
2 Nets
2 Corks
2 Chapsticks
1 Re-useable coffee mug
1 Plastic beverage cup
1 1/2 sunglasses (one eyepiece only!)
1 Firework
1 Light bulb
1 Sponge
1 Ceramics piece
1 Cable tie
1 Plastic band from the back of a cap
1 Screw
1 Dog poop bag (empty)
1 Plastic jar
1 Tennis ball
1 Tea bag
1 Bread tag
1 Book of matches
1 Ear plug
2 m Seat belt webbing

See Flickr page for more photos.

 

Marine debris – Project Week in Tofino

While it is not officially a Marine Science project, the week that Kenta has planned and he and his team are carrying out is very applicable to topics we cover in the course (and there are two Marine Science students participating!).

Very soon after arriving in Tofino on Sunday afternoon, we (Kenta, Helen, Amalia, Cassandra, Shuli & Laura) went to Chesterman Beach in the rain and wind. Despite the weather, we did collect some marine debris.

Kenta’s focus is on Japanese debris – he has high hopes of finding debris from the tsunami of 11 March 2011. His intention is to collect marine debris and make artwork that he will exhibit both in Canada and Japan.

Monday morning we went to Ucluelet and met with Karla Robison, Manager of Environmental & Emergency Services for the District of Ucluelet. She presented a lot of what she knows about Japanese tsunami debris then took us to the Public Works Yard where marine debris from many beach clean-ups is being stored.

Karla gave the students permission to sort through the debris and take anything that they could use in their artwork.

 Karla & Amalia

 Cassandra & Helen

 Kenta & Karla

Kenta sorted through all the plastic bottles and based on the writing was able to identify several Japanese bottles and many Chinese bottles.

Kenta was also interviewed by Andrew Bailey, a reporter from the ‘Westerly News’.

After loading the back of the van with debris we drove and hiked to Florencia Bay where we collected more debris, a lot more debris…

 This is the result of an afternoon at the south end of Florencia Bay.

More to come…

Esquimalt Lagoon clean-up 2013

In first year Marine Science, we are currently studying oceanic circulation and the garbage patches that exist within the major oceanic gyres. One way that we thought we could have a positive impact was by collecting garbage from a local beach and preventing it from adding to the problem in the North Pacific gyre.

On Thursday 24 January and Friday 25 January first year marine scientists did a beach clean-up at Esquimalt Lagoon.

 D block, Thursday

 B block, Friday

 We sorted and quantified what we found…

and the data are summarized below for Thursday 24 January:

Type of garbage	Number
Styrofoam bits	147
Plastic pieces	413
Straws / stirrers	41
Caps, lids	93
Coffee cups	6
Coffee cup lids	5
Plastic utensils	11
Lollipop sticks	6
Food wrappers	44
Plastic beverage bottles	13
Glass beverage bottles	2
Bags	12
Balloons	5
Rope	22
Nets	2
Cigarettes / filters	7
Tobacco packs / wrappers	7
Lighters	4
Syringes	1
Tampons / applicators	21
Clothing	3
Shoes	2
Shotgun shells	55
Toys	8
Pen	4
Wood	3
Beverage cans	2
Ball	3
Ceramic bowl	1
Hanger	2
Comb	5
Glowstick	1
Ear plug	2
Golf tee	1
Mussel disc	2
Sunglasses case	1
Hair elastic	1

and for Friday 25 January:

Type of garbage	Number
Styrofoam bits	Infinite!
Plastic pieces	216
Straws / stirrers	24
Caps, lids	46
Coffee cups	4
Coffee cup lids	3
Plastic utensils	9
Lollipop sticks	9
Food wrappers	35
Plastic beverage bottles	6
Glass beverage bottles	2
Bags	1
Balloons	2
Rope	16
Nets	1
Cigarettes / filters	30
Tobacco packs / wrappers	13
Lighters	1
Syringes	1
Tampons / applicators	12
Clothing	3
Shoes	1
Shotgun shells	19
Toys	13
Fishing floats & pieces	16
Fireworks	3
Beverage cans	2
Wood	2
Elastic band	1
Light bulb	2
Duct tape	5
Glow stick	1
Golf balls	3
Ear plug	1
Metal hoop	1
Desiccant packet	1

Students brought some of the garbage back to Pearson College and produced some works of art with a message.