Hawk Channel Near Rattlesnake Key
25 June, 2022
- Team Leader
- Christopher Kerr
- Number of Participants
- 22
- Total Debris Collected
- 1500 lbs (estimated)
25.154170946799, -80.358065239261
Survey Information
- Location Name
- Hawk Channel Near Rattlesnake Key
- Organization/Dive Centre
- Sail Fish Scuba
- City
- Key Largo
- Country
- United States
- Date
- 25 June, 2022
- Survey Duration
- 119 Minutes
- GPS Coordinates
- Latitude: 25.154170946799
Longitude: -80.358065239261
- Weather Conditions
-
Sunny, no wind, flat seas 84F Ocean temp.
- Survey Depth Range
- 1–14 feet
- Area Surveyed
- 300 ft2
- Dominant Substrate
- seagrass
- Ecosystem
- seagrass
- Wave Conditions
- Calm (glassy to rippled) for waves 0 – 0.1 meter high
Survey Photos
Debris Items Collected
| plastic materials collected | |
|---|---|
| Bags-grocery/retail (plastic) | 30 |
| Bags: Trash (plastic) | 6 |
| Bait Containers, Packaging | 2 |
| Balloons | 1 |
| Balls | 1 |
| Baskets, Crates | 6 |
| Beverage Bottles: 2 Litres Or More (plastic) | 2 |
| Beverage Bottles: Less Than 2 Litres (plastic) | 14 |
| Bottles: Bleach/cleaner Bottles | 1 |
| Buckets, Drums & Jerrycans-2 Liters Or More | 4 |
| Buoys & Floats (plastic & Foamed) | 8 |
| Caps & Lids (plastic) | 36 |
| Fishing: Line | 4 |
| Fishing: Lures, Rods/poles | 2 |
| Fishing: Nets & Pieces Of Nets | 14 |
| Pipes (plastic-PVC) | 3 |
| SCUBA & Snorkel Gear-masks, Snorkels, Fins | 1 |
| Sheeting: Tarpaulin, Plastic Sheets, Palette Wrap | 1 |
| Plastic Fragments | 9 |
| Rope (plastic/nylon) | 20 |
| glass materials collected | |
|---|---|
| Jars-food (glass) | 1 |
| Glass & Ceramic Fragments | 4 |
| Beverage Bottles (glass) | 2 |
| metal materials collected | |
|---|---|
| Beverage Cans (aluminium) | 4 |
| Cars & Car Parts | 1 |
| Pipes & Rebar | 2 |
| SCUBA Weights | 1 |
| Wire, Wire Mesh & Barbed Wire | 2 |
| Metal Fragments | 1 |
| Fishing: Traps & Pots | 2 |
| Fishing: Sinkers, Lures, Hooks | 4 |
| rubber materials collected | |
|---|---|
| Tires/tyres | 2 |
| Rubber Fragments | 2 |
| wood materials collected | |
|---|---|
| Lumber (processed Or Cut/milled Wood) | 4 |
| Wood Fragments | 4 |
| cloth materials collected | |
|---|---|
| Bags (cloth) | 2 |
| Gloves (cloth) | 3 |
| Rope And String (cloth) | 20 |
| Towels/rags | 2 |
| Cloth Fragments | 4 |
| mixed materials collected | |
|---|---|
| Bricks, Cinderblocks & Chunks Of Cement | 1 |
| Clothing | 5 |
| Shoes-flip Flops, Sandals, Tennis, Etc | 2 |
| Toys | 1 |
| Entangled Animals | |
|---|---|
| Crustaceans | |
| Species or Common Name | Crabs and Lobsters |
| Number Entangled | 4 |
| Status | released unharmed |
| Type of Debris | stuck in plastic trap |
Additional Information
I do not believe anyone cleaned this area properly since Hurricane Irma 2017
Rhinestone studded high heel shoes.
Heavy 20" round PVC Sewer pipe
Very Huge Long Line fishing netting - hundreds of pounds
Lobster and Crab trap long lines with foam floats, we collected hundreds of feet.
Comments and Feedback
We only covered in this half day about 1/10 of the area that needs cleaned here. We were limited on time due to a lightning storm we could see brewing a few miles to the NW of our location. We plan to return to this area a few more time and remove as much as possible.
We did find many old bathtubs persons placed underwater in the 11 - 14 feet deep seagrass bed floor for (lobster hotels) most likely used by poachers' year-round for illegal catching, but these had started to have sponge and coral growth. Also due to the pure weight of them, we could not remove these.
