The 2019 Great Mangrove Cleanup

The 2nd Annual Great Mangrove Cleanup of the St. Thomas East End Reserves (STEER), took place Saturday, April 13. STEER is a vital marine protected area on the east end of St. Thomas. One hundred and fifteen volunteers, ages 9-70, removed 1,786 pounds of debris from mangrove shorelines in kayak-based and land-based cleanups of mangrove shorelines.

This effort was only possible with the support of our volunteers!

Students from the University of the Virgin Islands, Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, Charlotte Amalie High School, Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School, Ulla F. Muller Elementary School, Joseph Sibilly Elementary School, and homeschool students, participated in the Cleanup, along with individuals from 13 other organizations.

Photos of volunteers by KW Grimes.

and… they found some interesting things!

Infographic by Elisa Bryan & Kristin Wilson Grimes

Thank you sponsors!

Sponsors of the event included University of the Virgin Islands Center for Marine & Environmental Studies, Virgin Islands Department of Planning & Natural Resources, Virgin Islands Marine Advisory Service, Virgin Islands Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (VI EPSCoR), Virgin Islands EcoTours, St. Thomas Recovery Team, Pizza Pi, Yes! Waste Management, Virgin Islands Marine Rebuild Fund, and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program.

The top 10 items collectedwere:

246 plastic beverage bottles

133 plastic pieces

114 other plastic bottles

113 plastic cups and plates

111 glass beverage bottles

109 construction materials

92 plastic grocery bags

89 other plastic bags

83 other plastic/foam packaging

82 beverage cans

Other weird finds included:

2 refrigerators

1 television

1 polaroid camera

11 tires

15 life jackets

Dr. Kristin Grimes

“It was exciting to see so many people come out for this event, again this year. Working together we removed nearly 1,800 pounds of trash – that’s a big impact! Like last year, the most common item we collected were plastic beverage bottles. What that tells me, is that plastic beverage bottles are a consistent marine debris problem for St. Thomas, so we should all be thinking more about what we are drinking out of, where we dispose of it, and where it may end up.” – Dr. Kristin Grimes, Assistant Professor, Center for Marine & Environmental Studies, University of the Virgin Islands