Raft Cove and Cape Palmerston cleanups

By Carmen Pendleton

Cleaning up the remote beaches of northwest Vancouver Island is an ongoing challenge. This summer the Clear the Coast campaign is focusing on a large expedition to Sea Otter Cove in early August. In addition to this we are also monitoring collector bags at remote beach locations.

Clear the Coast's Will Soltau lowers a
collector bag from a tree at Cape Palmerston.

Collector bags are made of retired fishing net that is sewn into a large sack. A rebar hoop is threaded through the top of the bag and they are hung from trees at remote beaches. We knew that there were at least three full collector bags at the Cape Palmerston recreation area that needed to be removed. As luck would have it the Vancouver Island chapter of the Surfrider Foundation was also doing a remote beach cleanup nearby at Raft Cove and agreed to share helicopter time. This is an area where we had maintained collector bags last summer so we were interested to see the condition of that beach this summer.

We set off on the first ferry Monday morning and, after a short stop in Port McNeill for supplies and radios, we were headed to the west coast. On the way we also stopped at the local landfill to drop off 20 kilograms of Styrofoam from our last cleanup on Malcolm Island. I know it doesn’t sound like much but it was a full truckload! Shortly after the landfill, we hit the logging roads. About 70 bumpy kilometers later we made it to the Raft Cove parking lot for our first hike of the day!

A hike of about 40 minutes through mud and tree roots brought us to the long sandy expanse of Raft Cove. It was another 20 minutes walk along the beach to where the Surfrider group had piled some of their debris. After dropping off a radio we chatted with them about data collection, debris and how their trip had gone. They mentioned that the area around where our collector bags were placed last year had been fairly clean and they had focused their attention on other areas, which was great to hear. After a well deserved lunch break we were back on the trail and hiking up to the truck to drive over to Cape Palmerston.

A helpful kayaker helped Carmen Pendleton and Will Soltau move
the third collector bag of marine debris to the pick up point.

The short drive and hike to the beach at Cape Palmerston was followed by a longer hike to the cabin, where we had been told there were three full collector bags. When we arrived at the cabin, however, we could only see two bags. This lead to a search along the beach where we found the third bag about 500 metres from the cabin, where we needed it to be for the helicopter lift the following morning. Luckily, a kayaker had just arrived at the beach and volunteered to help us move the bag which was so full it took the three of us about 45 minutes to move it to the cabin.

We spent the night camped at Cape Palmerston and after a good rest were ready for the excitement of the helicopter. Tuesday morning was perfect weather for the helicopter and after a short delay, the three bags of debris were picked up and deposited about a metre from our truck. Nice aim! There was too much debris to fit in the truck so we’ll be back later to load up the rest of it as well as the collector bag from the campsite. Thanks to all of the volunteers who pitched in to help Clear the Coast!

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Trash into treasure

By Will Soltau

Last fall Kerri, our Office Administrator blogged about how her husband Tyler found treasures amongst the trash while taking part in a shoreline cleanup. The two treasures—a glass ball and a bottle with a message inside—found on the same day is a rare occurrence indeed. Finding either one evokes an uncommon combination of feelings mixing amazement at finding such a rarity with awe that such fragile beauty could survive the turbulent elements of the beach. Toss in a dash of wonder over from where it came and how it ended up in front of you. I say this from personal experience having myself found a few glass balls. That is the lure that hooks a person on beachcombing.

The problem these days is that beachcombing means wading through tonnes of trash to find a treasure. If only that trash could be turned into treasure, an incentive like that would make our work a little easier. Refining the ocean plastic into useable oil, using it as raw material in 3D printers and certifying it as an ocean-friendly ingredient in packaging material are a few potential global solutions that we have been involved with. All are still in their infancy and none have really gotten very far off the ground yet. But then there are the home-made solutions at the local level. Repurposing is a popular incentive to beachcombers and artists. Colorful crab buoys and plastic balls are ubiquitous yard art in many coastal towns. In really remote communities anything useable is snatched up quickly. Large plastic oyster floats get repurposed as flotation in docks.

A recent example of turning what could have easily become trash into treasure is this (obvious) Japanese skiff that was found recently by a surfer friend of mine on the rocks at a very remote part of Vancouver Island’s west coast.

It was a little beat up but not broken beyond repair. He knew if he left it where it was, the skiff would soon get pounded to pieces by the tide and surf. So my surfer friend floated it a few miles to a nearby sand beach where it was less exposed to the elements and tied it up to a tree. Later, other friends of mine stumbled upon it while beachcombing large oyster floats and sent me some photos and a report for our interactive Clear the Coast map. Already knowing how it had gotten to where it was, I made introductions all around and we went back to gather more identification so we could report it to the powers-that-be. A third trip out for patching made it seaworthy enough for salvage.

Now ready for removal, I brought in a third friend of mine to tow the little skiff off the beach with his fishing boat. The first attempt had to be scuttled when the seas wouldn’t cooperate and we returned to town empty handed. But while waiting out the weather we came across huge accumulations of trash while beachcombing in Sea Otter Cove. We vowed to return for a cleanup there but that’s another story.

Eventually the weather improved enough to launch the skiff and it was moved to a more secure location where it sits today while the search for its owner in Japan continues.

Who knows what will become of this so-called treasure. The point is that even though the Japanese skiff was found in a very inaccessible location, it was worth our time and effort to remove it before it got trashed. If only the same were true with all the other trash on our shores.

Reducing the amount of debris entering the ocean is a key objective of our Clear the Coast Campaign. It’s a no-brainer. Cleaning up what’s already out there to restore our shores is number two. It’s also the right thing to do but it’s a huge job. Lots of folks are interested in volunteering their time to help clean up a beach (and maybe find a glass ball). Getting them out to remote shorelines where debris accumulates, then safely bringing them and what they collect back again takes a healthy dose of vitamin M. We need your support. That’s why we are actively fundraising to clean up Sea Otter Cove—a habitat rich area of northwestern Vancouver Island. Please check it out. There are some cool perks available if you donate.

Raft Cove and beyond - further adventures in marine debris

Andrew Mitchell is Living Oceans Society's summer student, working on our Clear the Coast project on Northern Vancouver Island.

Since my last blog post, we've made two more trips out to check up on our collector bags. Last week we visited Raft Cove and Cape Palmerston, while this week we made the long trip out to Hecht Beach. Fortunately, some lovely people have been filling up those bags, giving us plenty of time to relax on the beach (joking). Thank you to all you good Samaritans, and keep up the good work!

Our planned trip to Raft Cove took a bit of an interesting twist (and took on the slightest hint of patchouli) when we learned of the impending World Rainbow Gathering taking place there. Though the park has since been closed, over 1800 people had confirmed their attendance on the event’s Facebook page. Though we didn't quite know what to expect, when we arrived there were about 15 cars in the parking lot and reportedly about 50 people camped out down the beach. Whether it was the Rainbow Gatherers or other park visitors, someone had clearly been picking up some debris. We also had a volunteer with us: Megan Baker from Cetus Research and Education Society, who hooked us up with the Cetus truck to use. We tied off out first full net bag and stored it above the tide line for pickup later. After replacing the bag and checking on the second father down the beach (about half full), we were on our way. We found the bag out at Cape Palmerston nearly full, with some additional bags full of Styrofoam and other debris stacked around it. Between the three of us we replaced the bag and carried the full one out through the short trail.

Last week’s trip to Hecht Beach, though certainly not unpleasant, was also discouraging. It’s unbelievable how much debris we found in a small area of the beach. Worse still, lots of it was Styrofoam, which has an unfortunate tendency to break into smaller and smaller pieces over time. Eventually, a big chunk of Styrofoam that would be simple to pick up becomes a myriad of tiny bits that take far longer to collect. These Styrofoam bits persist in ecosystems for vast amounts of time, release toxins into the marine environment and can be ingested by wildlife.  That’s not to say that Styrofoam is the only harmful thing that washes up. Various types of debris can have different negative impacts, whether ingestion, entanglement, pollution or any of several other problems.

All marine debris can damage ecosystems in various ways, which is, ultimately, the reason it needs to be removed.  On the beach, we focused our collecting energies on a patch of driftwood, where everything from bottles to boots were mixed up between the logs. Just when you thought you’d finished an area, you’d look at it from another angle and see even more debris! Three garbage bags of debris later, we tied up the now-full collector bag and hung up its replacement. By that time, the morning fog had burned off, and we could finally get a good look at how beautiful the beach is- a quintessential west coast landscape of rock beaches, sparkling blue water and endless trees. That alone made the trip worthwhile, and I look forward to going out there sometime without carrying a garbage bag around the whole time!

While little pieces of Styrofoam are a problem, so are other kinds of (much larger) debris. To date, two small Japanese boats have been spotted washed up on shore. These too could release toxins into the ecosystem and could also crush habitats.  The first, which was spotted back in January, is just north of Cape Palmerston, while the other boat, which was spotted quite recently, is west of San Jo Bay. Both of these sightings were found thanks to our Clear the Coast partners at West Coast Helicopters, and were reported on Living Oceans’ Clear the Coast map. The map is the place where reports are posted from anyone who tells us about marine debris they've seen- be it a washed up vessel, some ghost fishing gear, or general items. Everyone is encouraged to contribute, as the map will help give a clear picture where debris is accumulating and (hopefully) where people are helping to clean it up. All you need to do is fill out a form with the details (where, when, etc.) and we’ll upload that information onto the map.

In summary, we now have more than 3 bags worth of garbage collected- and keep in mind these are much larger than a garbage bag! One net bag could easily hold 10 full regular sized bags and still have room left over for some Styrofoam.  Thanks again to the people out there helping us help the oceans. Don’t forget to report anything you find via our website so we can form an accurate picture of the problem and help formulate better solutions. Be sure to check out what’s on the map so far, and hopefully the next time you do, it will be updated with more firsthand accounts from others. Keep up the good work, and keep pitching in against marine debris.