Heading to the Shoals, Again

(the following was reprinted from Blue Ocean Society's May 2013 Enewsletter)


This week, we're donning our hard hats and heading out to the Isles of Shoals for another cleanup at Appledore Island. Appledore is the largest of this group of nine islands that lie 5 miles off the coast of Kittery, ME and Rye, NH.

Cleanup Team, September 2012 aboard the fishing vessel Yesterday's Storm

Why the hard hats? While we don't expect any trash to drop on our heads, we are wary of gulls, who nest on the island at this time of year and vigorously defend their nests. During this cleanup, we'll be surveying and removing debris from three spots on the island - three spots we cleaned last year in June, and again in September.

Some of the findings on Appledore Island, June 2012

There's a few reasons for picking these spots. A resurvey will help us figure out how long it takes for marine debris to accumulate in these areas, and what type of debris is washing up. They are also three spots on the island that are less inhabited by gulls at this time of year.

Last year, five of us picked up 557 pounds of debris in 5 hours. This was the first time these 3 areas had been cleaned-up, so we are hoping for less debris this time, but are interested to see what is out there after the stormy winter we had.  We'll keep you posted, and will also post some pictures and updates here on our blog!