Keeping 'America's best beach' sharp for World Ocean Day

Siesta Beach holds the claim to fame of being one of the best beaches in the United States, and locals who turned out for the latest cleanup effort said it is everyone's responsibility to keep the beach thriving.

Participants turned out early Sunday morning to pitch in for the beach cleanup in recognition of World Ocean Day. Sarasota County collaborated on the cleanup with Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, which is organizing a whole week of activities celebrating one of Florida's most important resources.

Fiona Bower, the events and programs coordinator at Siesta Beach, directed the lines of volunteers to the beach, arming them with grabbers and burlap sacks to collect trash.

"It is so important to come out and keep our beaches clean, especially on a day like today, where we celebrate our beautiful oceans across the world," Bower told the crowd. "We had a record-breaking turtle nesting season last year. It is so important that those turtles continue to come back, and that we have a clean, safe environment for them."

County environmental experts offered beachgoers information on how to protect Florida's waterways, giving tips on what turtle-safe lights to use during nesting season and how to switch to low-maintenance landscaping that saves water and prevents pesticide runoff into storm drains.

Volunteers Carol and Justin Lansford, parents of Clif Lansford, said the young environmental enthusiast had been looking forward to World Ocean Day the entire week leading up to it.

When asked why he likes going to the beach, 4-year-old Clif said, "Because there are turtles."

"We kayak a lot, especially by Turtle Beach, and every time we go, he gets really excited about finding garbage on the beach and says, 'We can't let the turtles get this,'" Justin said. "He's picked up such big pieces of plastic that we've had to strap them to the top of the kayak."

Volunteers initially commented on the remarkable cleanliness of the expansive Siesta Beach. But as they progressed toward the shore, surprised participants, including Venice-based Carol Smith, said just how many small pieces of plastic, food wrappers and other debris they could find.

"We love the beach, and if you love it, you have to take care of it," friend Susan Rini said.

Longtime beach cleaner Jerry Uhl said he often brings a bag with him on his morning stroll to collect litter, and he noted many of the nearby beaches have come a long way in their post-hurricane recovery. But many have a ways to go.

Environmental advocates in Canada first proposed World Earth Day at an international conference in Rio in 1999, and The Ocean Project launched the global coordination in 2002.

Mote's events manager Sophia Johnson said the organization looks forward to celebrating World Ocean Week with events covering everything from manatees to corals.

She said Mote is closing out the week with a land- and water-based cleanup on Saturday at Ken Thompson Park. 

"It's our triple threat to debris, because we'll have a dive team, kayakers paddling through the mangroves to pick up trash and people doing a land cleanup," she said. "After the cleanup from 8 to 10, we'll have refreshments provided by Sprouts."

Saturday also features the "Ask a Kid Conservationist Expo," when nine homeschool students will share their eco-conscious projects they've worked on the past semester.

"We've been glad to expand our efforts with World Ocean Week this year, and hopefully next year we can do even more," Johnson said.