Montego
Bay
Marine
Park
The
International Coastal Cleanup in Montego Bay
20 September
2003
| Trouble in Paradise | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jamaica… land of wood and water. Steep mountainsides covered with lush tropical forests, where the cool breezes mark a pleasant difference with the humid lowland weather. The waterfalls that are found in these mountains wind their way down to the rivers and streams, which in turn arrive to the ocean above ground directly or underground through springs. There is much to this journey that can take one’s breath away, both in the scenery and the life that inhabits this land. However, beauty does not exist in a vacuum, and the pristine waters all too often fall victim to improper land management. In the countryside and the cities, the improper disposal of sewage, trash and other forms of waste is a tremendous disaster for the island’s water resources. The International Coastal Cleanup is one step in the right direction. It is an effort to trace the pollution to the source, and to find ways to end improper disposal. The Montego Bay Marine Park played a vital role in furthering this goal for the greater Montego Bay area… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What is the International Coastal Cleanup? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) is an annual campaign sponsored by The Ocean Conservancy. Since it started in 1986, 118 countries and 55 U.S. states have participated in the cleanups. According to the ICC web site, the goal of the cleanup goes beyond picking up trash one day a year. "One of the ICC's goals is to trace pollution to its source and work to prevent it from occurring" (International Coastal Cleanup). Using tally sheets, teams collect and take record of the types of trash that enter the sea. This information can help guide local organizers in the effort to stop garbage before it becomes a problem. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The 2003 cleanup in Montego Bay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| This
map shows the greater Montego Bay area and the four main collection
points for the 20 September 2003 cleanup. From the top arrow to the
bottom, those points are: 1. Airport Reef 2. Sergeant Major Reef 3. Old Hospital Beach 4. Mouth of the Montego River |
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| The Wonderful World of Statistics, 2003 ICC in Montego Bay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| *Full bags averaging 20 lbs each | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The total amount broken down into basic categories: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| -The
International Coastal Cleanup in Montego Bay Photo Gallery- |
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| -20
September 2003- |
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| Thoughts on the day... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Clayton Powell is an enforcement officer at the Montego Bay Marine Park, and he organized the overall cleanup in Montego Bay. Mr. Powell feels that the day started very well, although he was initially disappointed with the turnout. Peace Corps and Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) comprised much of the team, and only a handful of dedicated Montegonians responded to the event. Nevertheless, Mr. Powell was very impressed with all of the volunteers, who proved themselves competent and efficient as the day progressed. He feels that this is proven by the amount of trash collected on that day. Andrew Ross, scientific officer at the Montego Bay Marine Park, was present at the underwater portions of the cleanup. He was actually surprised to find not as much garbage as he was expecting. Mr. Powell felt this was due to periodic flushing out which is normal for the waterways. Still, Andrew was happy with the small but dedicated turnout, in what he describes as “good, clean family fun!” Mr. Powell gave some thoughts on how to improve next year’s ICC cleanup. This year, he had two weeks to get information out about the ICC to the local community, and there was only enough time to send a proposal at the end of the first week. This short amount of time also limited the number of divers who were available for the marine cleanups. For next year, Mr. Powell hopes to allocate at least six to eight weeks in order to allow a sufficient amount of time to notify the press and Montego Bay community. Another observation of Mr. Powell’s was that the data sheets were in some aspects used improperly. Certain groups forgot to mark a few basic observations, such as total bags collected per team. It was left to Mr. Powell to calculate backwards through the tally system so that a reasonable estimate could be produced. He hopes lessons learned this year will make ICC 2004 a more efficient and successful endeavour. In closing, Mr. Powell wishes to thank all the volunteers for their hard work, especially for the long day that began at 8 AM and ended at 4 PM! |
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On
behalf of the Montego Bay Marine Park, thank you to all who helped
make the 2003 International Coastal Cleanup a tremendous success! |
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Underwater
photos by Dr. Tadaomi Nakai Land photos and web page by Michael Loftin |
