Tampa Bay Green Consortium sponsored a dive cleanup in coordination with Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup 2014 event at Ballast Point Park and Pier on April 12, 2014.  

During this year’s Tampa-wide event, only one location in Tampa conducted a special cleanup that included both a coastal cleanup and a dive cleanup at the same location.

Volunteers from Ricoh USA and the local Tampa community participated in cleaning up the park and mangrove shoreline. In addition to the coastal cleanup at Ballast Point Park, volunteer divers from local dive clubs, colleges, organizations, and the community coordinated with the City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Department to conduct a dive cleanup around the Ballast Point Pier. Kayakers from local clubs and within the community supported the divers during this event. The pier was closed during the cleanup for the safety of the divers.

Numerous dive centers in the Tampa Bay area, to include World of Water and Scuba Quest, assisted by donating free dive gear and air tanks to volunteer divers. Food and drink for the volunteers was provided by the North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA).

It was a beautiful Tampa Bay day for a marine debris cleanup.  56 volunteers, which included divers, kayakers, debris collectors, and data recorders collected and identified over 2,100 debris items in the water and along the shoreline that totaled 420 pounds.  

Here are a few highlighted items collected which are items that are a danger to the marine life:

-       687 cigarette Filters

-       368 fishing lines

-       113 Candy Wrappers

-       72 straw wrappers

-       42 fishing hooks

-       35 Bottles

-       13 balloons

-       4 Cell Phones

-       4 Fishing Poles

-       3 Computer Hard drives

-       1 large Truck Tire

-       1 Pallet

-       1 GPS system with memory card