By Joanne Rodgers,
Bruce Peninsula Press
In mid July, volunteers conducted an assessment of the garbage collected in the Seabins in Tobermory and Lion’s Head.
Seabins are marine grade underwater garbage containers. They are mounted on a floating platform that sits below the water surface level. The container has an inner mesh basket and a pump that pulls surface water and debris into the basket.
The Seabins are assessed daily by volunteers; if full, a volunteer empties it and weighs the debris. Then data on the weight, amount of debris in the bag and weather conditions is submitted through the “Data Trapper’ App via a smartphone to the International Trash Trap Network. Periodically, volunteers will conduct a “deep dive” of the captured debris.
In mid July, “deep dives” were conducted in Tobermory and Lion’s Head. This process involved laying out all the garbage collected, sorting and cataloging the debris using sieves and tweezers. Findings are also submitted to the larger study.
Owen Glendon of the Citizen Science Seabin Project sums up the findings:
“Deep Dives in both Tobermory and Lion’s Head went well. Cigarette butts tend to be the most prevalent plastic related item captured. Lion’s Head Harbour seems to have more boat related debris. i.e. rope, hard plastic bits, foam pieces, while Tobermory Harbour debris is more harbour visitor related. i.e. bottle caps, food wrappers and cigarette butts.”
The aim of the Citizen Science Seabin Project is to monitor the garbage found in the water and to raise awareness of the quantity and types of waste, especially plastics that are found in the waters around Lion’s Head and Tobermory.
For further information on the project visit https://sourcesofknowledge.ca/seabins/
