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We Are Team Ocean WE ARE TEAM OCEAN 2020 REPORT INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP A TABLE OF 1 12 A Message Weird Finds from Ocean around the World Conservancy’s CEO 2 14 Show Me 2019 Data Contents the Science at a Glance 4 16 Building Ocean Trash Index Team Ocean International 6 20 On and Below Ocean Trash Index the Surface United States 8 22 International Team Meet the 2019 Ocean Highlights Cleanup Coordinators 10 26 #TeamOcean 2019 Supporting Surfs the Web Partners 28 VIETNAM Acknowledgments A MESSAGE FROM Ocean Conservancy’s CEO It’s hard to grasp all that has happened And then, as the 34th annual ICC season individual efforts and activism; it takes since our last International Coastal came to a close, the world changed local communities working together; Cleanup (ICC) report. A year ago dramatically. In early 2020, just as and it takes governments at all levels we were proud to announce having we were getting ready to confer with to pass meaningful policies that will reached a new milestone for the coordinators about plans for this year make a difference. annual event: more than one million and pore over the data, the coronavirus As we look back at the 2019 ICC and volunteers around the world coming pandemic hit. adjust our plans for this year, it strikes out to remove trash and plastics from More recently, the United States me that these same truths apply to Team beaches and waterways. We shared an has been rocked by a long-overdue Ocean. The International Coastal Cleanup interesting new finding—for the first awakening to another, deeper-seeded has always been about community, and time in ICC history, plastic cutlery was crisis: that of racial injustice and the power of collective action to make among the top 10 items collected— police brutality directed at Black a difference. The average volunteer and created a new call to action: Americans. Black, Indigenous and other collects 22 pounds of trash; but together, Quit the Cutlery. And, in preparation communities of color are also at more as Team Ocean, we remove millions. for the 2019 ICC, we launched the risk of COVID-19, and are experiencing #TeamOcean campaign, encouraging So thank you to all our partners and impacts from pollution and climate people everywhere to join a coordinators; and to all the volunteers change more than other communities. movement—a team effort—for a clean, who came out in 2019. We couldn’t Demands for change erupted and healthy ocean. Over the following accomplish all that we’ve done without spread all over the world. months, our incredible partners and your efforts. Team Ocean is strong coordinators executed some 7,000 We must do everything we can to because of you. And like any good cleanup events across 116 countries. address these challenges. It has teammate, we are here for you as we 943,195 volunteers—or teammates, been heartening to see how we, as a continue navigating these difficult times. I like to think—recorded collecting global community, are beginning to 20,772,394 pounds of trash, much of come together to tackle these crises. it plastics. The vast majority of people have recognized that to beat this pandemic, and to root out systemic racism, we have to work together—it takes Janis Searles Jones FLORIDA, USA INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 1 RESEARCHERS DISCOVERED Microplastics and even smaller SHOW ME THE MICROPLASTICS IN ICE CORES nanoplastics have been found in many TAKEN FROM ANTARCTICA, of the food and beverage products adding to the list of remote places we consume. Scientists found that contaminated by these pollutants (Kelly COMMON PLASTIC TEABAGS et al., 2020 Marine Pollution Bulletin). CAN RELEASE MORE THAN The list grew even longer when 11 BILLION MICROPLASTIC AND 3 BILLION NANOPLASTIC MICROPLASTICS WERE FOUND PARTICLES INTO YOUR FLOATING IN THE DEEP SEA and BEVERAGE (Hernandez et al., 2019 in the stomachs of the organisms living Environmental Science & Technology). 2019 was an important year for scientific research on marine there (Choy et al., 2019 Nature). debris. Dr. Chelsea Rochman, Ocean Conservancy science advisor and assistant professor at the University of Toronto, highlights Sciencesome of the most impactful findings from the year. A study in London, UK, discovered Rubber dust from car tires is one microplastics suspended in the of the most common sources of air throughout the city. The study microplastics in the coastal waters suggests that cities could be a off California, USA, according to source of microplastic pollution as scientists (Sutton et al., 2019 the AIRBORNE PLASTIC San Francisco Estuary Institute). PARTICLES ENTER SOIL AND Another study found that toxins in BODIES OF WATER, INCLUDING these TIRE PARTICLES CAN THE OCEAN, THROUGH RAIN REDUCE THE SURVIVAL RATE AND SNOW (Wright et al., 2020 OF SOME FISH HATCHLINGS and Environment International). cause deformities in their embryos. These particles may become more toxic to organisms as water BAFFIN BAY/SANNIRUTIUP IMANGA, temperature and turbulence from NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN storm events increase with climate change (Kolomijeca et al., 2020 Environmental Science & Technology). 2 OCEAN CONSERVANCY Scientists discovered that EXPOSURE TO 2,000 MICROPLASTIC PARTICLES PER ML OF WATER LEAD ZOOPLANKTON TO EXTINCTION within just four generations (Schür et al., 2020 Environmental Pollution). Scientists explored the Scientists found that THERE Scientists discovered that large impact of microplastics on ARE SEVEN TIMES MORE pieces of PLASTIC WASHED biodiversity by testing how MICROPLASTICS THAN LARVAL UP ON BEACHES AROUND species that live in the soil at FISH IN SEA SLICKS—calm bands THE WORLD ARE TRAPPING the bottom of lakes, ponds, of water on the ocean’s surface SMALL ANIMALS SUCH AS HERMIT CRABS IN STARTLING and canals respond to different where sea currents meet. Many NUMBERS. As many as 61,000 concentrations of microplastics of the larva in these slicks eat the hermit crabs are estimated to in their habitat. The researchers tiny, prey-sized plastics and then become entrapped and die each year found that HIGHER NUMBERS pass those plastics on to fish and on just one remote island due to OF MICROPLASTICS sea birds higher up the food chain plastic marine debris. Scientists are IMPACTED BIODIVERSITY (Gove et al., 2019 Proceedings of the concerned that their discovery may IN SOIL SAMPLES National Academy of Sciences). (Redondo-Hasselerharm et al., have serious implications for crab 2020 Science Advances). species globally (Lavers et al., 2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials) INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 3 BuildingTEAM OCEAN In February 2019, Ocean Conservancy announced an exciting new partnership with the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee. As the Official Ocean Partner of Super Bowl LIV, held in Miami in February 2020, we were poised to spread the message of ocean conservation to millions of sports fans, and to residents and visitors of one of America’s most iconic beach destinations. 4 OCEAN CONSERVANCY Inspired by this collaboration, we McGary (Atlanta Falcons), Geremy launched “Team Ocean” as the official Davis (Los Angeles Chargers) and tagline of the 2019 International Coastal D’Ernest Johnson (Cleveland Browns) Cleanup (ICC). We felt the campaign to show their Team Ocean pride on could go beyond the Super Bowl, beyond the field with custom-made cleats; American football, and even beyond ■ We partnered with Centerplate, the America. After all, in Ocean Conservancy official concessioners for the Super CEO Janis Searles Jones’ own words, Bowl stadium, to help make the Big “In sports, it takes everyone working Game almost entirely zero-waste; and together to achieve the ultimate success ■ We welcomed new Team Ocean and win a championship. The same is recruits from all over the world at our true of ocean stewardship.” booth in the Super Bowl LIVE village the The ICC is exactly that: everyone week before the Big Game, including working together to achieve the ultimate rapper Lil Nas X and Miss Florida! success of a vibrant and healthy ocean. It made sense to use the ICC as the Super Bowl LIV may be behind us, but “kickoff” to our on-the-ground work with together with our partners, coordinators the Super Bowl Host Committee. and volunteers around the world, Team Ocean continues to train for one goal: A few weeks before the ICC, we set a a clean, healthy ocean. goal of removing or diverting 54 tons (a nod to the 54th Super Bowl) of plastics and waste from Florida’s beaches and waterways ahead of the Big Game. Among the many initiatives taken to reach our goal: ■ We encouraged Floridians to join Team Ocean on ICC day, and again at various cleanup events through January 2020; ■ To help spread the word, we recruited NFL players Chris Conley (Jacksonville Jaguars), Raheem Mostert (San Francisco 49ers), Johnathan Jenkins (Miami Dolphins), Jahlani Tavai (Detroit Lions), Kaleb INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 5 MEXICO TeamON AND BELOW Ocean THE SURFACE The International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) isn’t limited to the beach. Good Mate Watercraft Cleanups Ocean Conservancy’s Good Mate program provides best practices and materials to boaters so they, too, can help keep our ocean clean and healthy from the water’s surface. Beneath the waves, we collaborate with Project AWARE’s Dive Against Debris® program, 9,061 869.4 which empowers scuba divers to remove debris from the seafloor and People Miles then record their findings. Through these two initiatives, we expand the reach of the ICC far beyond the shore and gain a more complete understanding of what ocean trash looks like—and how to address it. 184,170 1,399 Pounds Kilometers 83,538 1,067,735 Kilograms Total Items CANADA 6 OCEAN CONSERVANCY MEXICO What lies beneath? In April 2020, Ocean Conservancy, Project AWARE, and scientists at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, published a study in the journal Environmental Pollution comparing eight years of land-based and underwater cleanup data.
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