Half a bicycle was found during the Gulf Islands National Seashore cleanup/Ian Lewis.

Gulf Islands National Seashore extends along the Florida and Mississippi coastlines, comprised of barrier islands and important shoreline beaches and habitat. As their borders touch the Gulf of Mexico and intracoastal waterways, these beautiful ecosystems can become an accidental catchment for a range of marine debris, including plastics, cigarette butts, and more. To celebrate Earth Month, Boys and Girls Club members teamed up with the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance, United Way, the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Department, and Saltwater Restaurants, Inc. to remove as much refuse as they could find.

Coastal cleanups have surged in Northwest Florida, as both a positive volunteer activity but also an educational experience. In the fall and spring, clean-ups are held on Okaloosa Island, home of the Okaloosa Area of Gulf Islands National Seashore. In the past, cleanup efforts have focused on the Gulf of Mexico beaches, but trash and other items often wash up on the Choctawhatchee Bay-facing Gulf Islands National Seashore as well. With an added commitment of Boys and Girls club members in 2019, the team added the seashore to two Gulf-beach sites.

The day dawned partly-sunny and windy, a comfortable spring temperature that contrasted with the boiling heat that would descend on the Florida Panhandle with the busy summer months. This area of the seashore is relatively quiet, a stretch of beach bordered by short dunes and facing grass flats, popular with both anglers and kite boarders. Over 65 clean-up participants stopped at a table staffed by United Way and NWF AmeriCorps Environmental Steward volunteers to pick up supplies, then carefully walked the shore and accompanying uplands to pick up any and all man-made items. The oddest object? Half of a bright-red bicycle, still shiny but irreparably broken.

In all, the Okaloosa Island cleanup removed over 8,500 cigarette butts from the island alone, in addition to other trash and recyclable material. The team plans to continue clean-ups in the fall, as part of the International Coastal Cleanup movement.