Marine Debris in Jamaica Bay

Since 1961, the American Littoral Society has defended the coast from harm and empowered others to do the same.

The American Littoral Society is currently conducting shoreline cleanups and promoting source reduction efforts as part of a marine debris removal project:

Jamaica Bay Marine Debris Removal and Data-driven Prevention Pilot Project

This project is generously funded through the NOAA Restoration Center and the NOAA Marine Debris Program.

Our Partners in marine debris removal

We have been working with funders, partners, and volunteers to remove large marine debris since 2002.

Together we’ve removed hundreds of derelict vessels and other large debris.

Sandy greatly increased the amount of Marine Debris in Jamaica Bay and it’s surrounding water bodies.

Since 1961, the American Littoral Society has defended the coast from harm and empowered others to do the same.

Hazard to Navigation

Since 1961, the American Littoral Society has defended the coast from harm and empowered others to do the same.

Negative Effects of Large & Small Marine Debris

Injury to beachgoers

Toxic to the Environment

Entanglement of/Ingestion by Wildlife

Loss of Tourism Dollars

Expensive to Remove

Smothers Marshland

Over 600 derelict vessels, boat fragments, personal watercraft and docks/portions of docks were catalogued.

GPS CoordinatesMeasurementsDescriptions

Large Marine Debris Present As of March 2013

Large Marine Debris Removed Post Sandy

American Littoral Society

Big Egg Marsh/Broad Channel American ParkDubos Point

Spring CreekJamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

ACOE, JB Ecowatchers, NPS

Floyd Bennet FieldDead Horse BayPlum Beach

Motivated Volunteers

Marine Contractor Demolition Contractors

Since 1961, the American Littoral Society has defended the coast from harm and empowered others to do the same.

Large marine debris

removal can be difficult

and expensive

Over 180,000 pounds of large debris has been removed from Jamaica Bay since 2010.

“Current” Map of Large Debris

133 Boats/Personal Watercrafts 132 Boat Fragments/Engines 171 Docks/Portions of Docks

Sunk or Relocated by TidesHidden by VegetationBuried by SandRemoved by Other Organizations

Since 1961, the American Littoral Society has defended the coast from harm and empowered others to do the same.

Vessels should be maintained and disposed of properly.

Department of Sanitation

Donating to charitySome charities accept donated

boats and will even pick them up from you

For $20.00 the DOS will accept a boat at it’s facilities in Brooklyn as long as the fluids have been removed and the person

dropping off the boat has ownership papers. Call (718) 642-4290

before 3pm to arrange for disposal.

Spread the word!

Prevention is Important

Since 1961, the American Littoral Society has defended the coast from harm and empowered others to do the same.

The New York State Beach Cleanup

We have been organizing the annual International Coastal Cleanup in New York State since 1986.

In 2014 we had 6,891 volunteers at 248 sites

Volunteer’s document on data cards the kinds of debris they remove.

Together they removed 46 tons of debris.

The data is sent to the Ocean Conservancy for analysis. The resultant studies produce strategies to

reduce marine debris at the source.

60 to 80% of marine debris is made up of plastic. According to the Ocean Conservancy’s data, most of the top ten items

collected during the 2013 International Coastal Cleanup were PLASTIC.

Pla sticBott

les

Cigarette

Butts

(with

plastic

filters)

Food Wrappers

Plasti

c Bott

le Ca

psStraws,

Stirrers

Plastic Grocery Bags

Glass Beverage Bottles

Other Plastic Bags

Paper

Bags

Beverage

Cans

2,043,470

1,685,422

940.170

847.9

72

555,007

441,493

394.796

389,088368,746

339,170SODA

PRETZELSW

ATER

Sandwich Bag

XXX

Plastic Contains Toxins

TOXINS are released

into water as the plastic

breaks down into ever smaller pieces.

“Disposable” plastic items

can take HUNDREDS of years or

more to disappear from the

environment.

If we don’t do something, the ocean may look like this or worse!

Plastic already out numbers plankton by a wide margin.

WAT

ER

Beve

rage

Take Out Food

Beve

rage

PRETZELS

SODACANDY

CHIPS

WAT

ERW

ATER

The more garbage you produce, the more likely it is that some of it will find its way to the ocean.

Refuse, Reuse, Reduce, Recycle, Restrict, Resist, Refrain

Each year, an estimated 38,000,000,000 plastic bottles are incinerated or sent to landfills in the U.S. That averages out to more than 730 million bottles each week. That means that each week we discard more bottles then it takes to circle the earth.

It takes the

equivalent of 3 liters of water to produce just one

liter of bottled water

17 million barrels of oil are used to supply

the U.S with plastic bottles

each year.

Alm

ost 5

0% of U

S

Bottled wate

r can co

st

thousands of ti

mes

more than ta

p wate

r.

$

$

$

$

Once a plastic bottle is opened, bacteria can

grow quickly unless the bottle is refrigerated.

WATERWATER

WATER

WATER WATER

WATERWATER

WATERWATER

WATER

WATERWATER WATER WATERWATERWATER WATERWATER WATERWATER WATERWATER WATERWATER WATERWATER WATERWATER WATERWATER WATERWATER WATERWATER WATERWATER WATER WATER

wateris

filteredtap

water

really

Say Goodbye to Single-use Items.

Beverage

Tissues

-

+

-

+

-

+

-

+

Paper

Towels

Find Reusable Alternatives

STOP

Our beaches are covered with

single-use items

Buying and utilizing

reusable items save

money

In New York alone, we use approximately 5.2 billion carryout bags per year.

That amount of bags, laid end to end, w

ould reach to the moon and back.

Plastic bags harm marine animals through both ingestion and entanglement

NO YES

BYOB

Don’t Toss Your Butts – They Are Toxic

Cigarette filters are

plastic. They are not

biodegradable

5,000,000,000tossed away

worldwide

Laboratory tests found that the chemicals from just one cigarette butt had the ability to kill fish living in a one-liter bucket of water.

Cigarettes Pollute

Your Lungsthe Air

And the Water

They break up into tiny

pieces that can be eaten by marine lifeSpread the Word!

# 1 Item on

Beaches

In U.S

Most people do not realize the damage that releasing balloons can cause to wildlife.

REFRAIN:Don’t Let Go Of Balloons

There are more Eco-friendly ways you can celebrate instead,but be sure not to leave anything behind that is not organic!

Fly a kite

Blow bubbles

Plant nati

ve

flowersLight a candle

(and put it out.)

Many fishing areas have recycling bins for used fishing line and some ports now accept old nets and traps and recycle them.

Dispose of Unwanted Fishing Line and Gear Properly

Dead and dying Terrapins are frequently found in abandoned

fishing gear and birds and other creatures are often entangled in fishing line,

ropes and nets.

Abandoned Fishing Gear Kills Endangered Marine

Mammals and Turtles

Encourage fisherman to dispose of unwanted fishing gear properly.

Refuse, Reuse, Reduce, Recycle, Restrict & Refrain Whenever Possible

And Help The Ocean Look Like This!