40th Anniversary of New York State Beach Clean-ups

by Alexandra Kanonik, Program Director Jamaica Bay

July on Jamaica Bay marsh islands is a busy time for its human and animal residents. People are hitting the beach to cool off, fishes are migrating, terrapins are busy laying their eggs on sandy berms, cow nose rays are flapping in the surf, horseshoe crabs are wrapping up their spawning activity, shorebirds are coming in to feed on horseshoe crab eggs, herons like Edgar the Egret are busy feeding their fluffy young, and of course Osprey parents are working very hard feeding their own fledglings, as they need to grow large enough to migrate with their parents South for the Fall. ​

What all these residents have in common is that they all get impacted by litter and plastic trash on our beautiful shorelines. July is Plastic Free July and it is a good month to reflect on how our activities directly impact everything around us. Plastics float and break down into small pieces over time. Many animals confuse this trash for food items that they will then feed to their growing young, horseshoe crabs and many other animals that spend their time in the littoral zone often get tangled up in tough stringy debris like fishing line, and of course this trash looks out of place on the beach. 

What can you do about it? The best thing you can do is if you are spending time this summer on Jamaica Bay’s shores and beaches, if you see plastic trash, take the time to pick it up, and carry it out with you at the end of your day. Every little bit helps. If you bring plastic items that become trash later, then please carry them out with you, so that they don’t escape into our waterways to cause harm to our animal neighbors. ​

What is the Littoral Society doing about it? The Littoral Society has been coordinating, and hosting volunteer beach cleanups on New York’s shorelines and beaches since 1986! This year we are celebrating the 40th Anniversary of our beach cleanup program. Every year we gather volunteers to help us clean up our marsh islands, shorelines and beaches in Jamaica Bay, and across New York State. We also collect data on our removal efforts that we then report to the Ocean Conservancy who publishes this information into a massive global dataset! ​

How can you get involved? Stay in touch and become a volunteer for the Littoral Society. If you want to directly help out on beach cleanup efforts in Jamaica Bay, and across New York State, please check back on our dedicated cleanup website later this month to register and view information about cleanups that are happening near you. We are currently busy updating our cleanup website, so please check back at the end of the month for updates, we will also send and update over e-mail about our beach cleanups to all volunteers that sign up to volunteer with us!

Important upcoming dates: This year, Saturday September 19th is the official globally recognized International Costal Cleanup Day. We hope that many of you will join a beach cleanup near you on this important day.

Support us: If you want to help us continue coordinating our statewide cleanup program, and celebrate our 40th Anniversary, please consider sponsoring our program or donating to the Littoral Society to support our efforts.  Happy Plastic Free July! Let’s work together to keep our beaches clean!