The Marine Debris Removal Initiative

Notes from the Field:

Featured crew member @emilyfulton

"61 TONNES (136,640 lbs) of marine debris removed from BC’s Central Coast! ...and more to come!

"I feel so fortunate to have been a crew member for @bluewateradventuresbc participating in a massive marine debris removal initiative. As COVID-19 upended many industries this year, we have seen some great adaptations and evolution. Five of the Small Ship Tour Operators Association (SSTOA) companies came together and proposed this remote marine debris removal project to our government. These companies very quickly adapted from offering remote wilderness tours to figuring out how to get crews of skilled mariners and guides into the remote reaches of the Great Bear Rainforest to pick up trash!

The first half of this initiative removed debris from just south of Calvert Island, northward all the way to Milbanke Sound (over 1000km of coastline covered!). The vessel that I traveled on (SV Island Odyssey) was tasked with cleaning the exposed west coast of Calvert Island and the Goose Group. The second half of this project is now underway and targeting areas further northward to pick up where we left off.

The crew I had the privilege of working alongside was stellar in every way imaginable. We had physically and mentally challenging days, encountered some grueling combinations of terrain/weather/piles of debris, and didn’t always agree on what was the best action to take. That being said, our crew came together so naturally as a team and some days it felt like we never stopped laughing. We kicked ass as trash-pickers, were so lucky to explore some very seldom-visited and breathtakingly beautiful areas, had insane wildlife encounters, supported each other day in and day out, and got to give back to the supernatural province we call home.

Thank you endlessly to @bluewateradventuresbc, @OuterShores, @MapleLeafAdvent, @Mothership.Adventures, @OceanAdventuresCharter and all of your crew members onboard and behind the scenes, what a treat it was to clean up our coastline with you."

#BCCoastalCleanUp
📷 - @wandersailing