With thousands of miles of coastline and a reputation for some of the world’s most beautiful beaches, there’s no reason for The Bahamas not to participate in this year’s International Coastal Cleanup (ICC). A global event, the ICC takes place annually; in 2013, 648,015 volunteers in 92 countries picked up more than 12.3 million pounds of trash, according to the Ocean Conservancy’s website.
In recent years in The Bahamas, emphasis has been placed on keeping our natural resources – including beaches, parks and reefs – clean and healthy. The Dolphin Encounters team has been a leading force in doing its part to keep our coastlines tidy with the Dolphin Encounters Project B.E.A.C.H. (The Bahamas Education Association for Cetacean Health) and Beach Buddies program.
The Dolphin Encounters Project B.E.A.C.H. mission is to provide unique opportunities for marine education in an informal setting for Bahamian educators and children. The Dolphin Encounters educational team hopes to instil and foster a respect and caring for marine mammals and their environments, emphasizing a strong active commitment to conservation and research, which benefits our animals and their wild counterparts. Dolphin Encounters Project B.E.A.C.H. believes that continued efforts to monitor the amounts of trash found on our local beaches will help create a cleaner, safer marine environment for everyone.
As the official ICC representative for The Bahamas, Dolphin Encounters is getting in on the world-wide action and is this year hosting Coastal Cleanup Day on New Providence and all Family Islands with the exception of Abaco and Grand Bahama.
On New Providence, on September 20, 2014, the Dolphin Encounters team will be at South Beach taking part in “Sun, Sand and Sea… Celebrating Our Beaches” and is inviting volunteers to lend a hand. The cleanup will be taking place from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.; members of the community can be entered to win the photo contest, and those who bring four or more buddies can be entered to win beach passes to Blue Lagoon Island.
Participants are asked to bring drinking water and heavy-duty gloves and wear durable clothing; a hat is recommended to prevent sunburn and closed-toe shoes are necessary to protect feet from sharp objects. For those who don’t know the way, there will be free bus transportation every half hour (starting at 7:30 a.m.) from both the Mall at Marathon and Town Centre Mall.
To find out more about Sun, Sand and Sea… Celebrating Our Beaches or the global coastal cleanup effort, contact Linzi Knowles-Belton or Annette Dempsey at education@dolphinencounters.com“>education@dolphinencounters.com, or call (242) 363-7180, ext. 302/303.