Volunteers Scour Beach for Trash

Volunteers gathered for the annual International Coastal Clean-up Day to clear beaches of trash and debris

Eunoh Kim carries a bucket full of trash she collected along the beach, participating at the Coastal Cleanup Day, led by Heal The Bay in Santa Monica Calif. on Saturday, September 17, 2022. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Alvin Alvarez (left) looks into the hole in the top of the skull that he collected while diving with Alma Alvarez (right) in the water surrounding the Santa Monica Pier for Coastal Cleanup Day, led by Heal The Bay in Santa Monica Calif. on Saturday, September 17, 2022. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Volunteers pick up trash on the beach, while participating at Coastal Cleanup Day, led by Heal the Bay in Santa Monica Calif. on Saturday, September 17, 2022. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

A diver from the Eco Dive Center, points to the trail that a bloodworm left on a laptop. Surrounding the computer are other miscellaneous objects they collected while going below the water surrounding the Santa Monica Pier. Coastal Cleanup Day, led by Heal The Bay in Santa Monica Calif. on Saturday, September 17, 2022. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Joy De Vie has been coming to the beach cleanup since 2018. “I wish that corporations would stop producing microplastics. The way they manufacture products should be more ocean-friendly. For as much money as they make, they should spend the extra dollar to make products that in fact won’t make it into the ocean,” De Vie said.

Allison Kitchen and her son, Brooklyn, found a lot of cigarette butts and bottle caps, “It’s nice to clean up our beaches since we use them so much,” Kitchen said. Heal The Bay Coastal Cleanup Day in Santa Monica Calif. on Saturday, September 17, 2022. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Christy Kim (left) and Eunoh Kim (right) empty a bucket full of garbage they collected along the beach, while participating at the Coastal Cleanup Day, led by Heal The Bay in Santa Monica Calif. on Saturday, September 17, 2022. Christy Kim and Eunoh Kim have been in California for one month, from South Korea, “We haven’t seen the trash when we walk along the beach. On this side there were lots of trash. When I threw this bucket into the trash I felt awesome, like I did it. Many people just throw away their trash, I think they don’t feel any guilt,” Eunuch Kim said. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Members of Tokyo Marine LA wait to get the items they picked up from the beach weighed. The volunteer who weighs the items is from the Bridge to the Future Program. Heal The Bay Coastal Cleanup Day in Santa Monica Calif. on Saturday, September 17, 2022. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

In collaboration with Heal the Bay, divers from Dive Center participate in the Coastal Cleanup Day event. Diving into the waters surrounding the Santa Monica Pier, they find a wide range of trash. Coastal Cleanup Day, led by Heal The Bay in Santa Monica Calif. on Saturday, September 17, 2022. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

William Tobias, a member of Eco Dive Center, walks onto the shore with the trash he collected after his first dive into the ocean at Santa Monica Pier. Coastal Cleanup Day, led by Heal The Bay in Santa Monica Calif. on Saturday, September 17, 2022. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Alvin and Alma Alvarez, (L to R) members of Eco Dive Center, hold a skull that they collected on their dive below the water surrounding the Santa Monica Pier. Coastal Cleanup Day, led by Heal The Bay in Santa Monica Calif. on Saturday, September 17, 2022. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

A plastic toy doll is engulfed by seaweed, part of the trash findings by members of Eco Dive Center who participated at the Coastal Cleanup Day, led by Heal The Bay in Santa Monica Calif. on Saturday, September 17, 2022. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Three garbage cans, full of trash collected by participants and volunteers who attended the Coastal Cleanup Day, led by Heal The Bay in Santa Monica Calif. on Saturday, September 17, 2022. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

On a cloudy Saturday morning, members and leaders of beach clean-up organizations, community members, and students gathered to clean up Santa Monica Beach. As divers surged the dark, muddy waters directly under Santa Monica Pier, volunteers scattered the vast, sandy beach to find any remnants of plastic and trash. 

Saturday, Sept. 17 from 9 a.m. to noon marked International Coastal Clean-Up Day, where thousands of volunteers gathered to clear beaches of trash and debris. Heal the Bay, an environmental non-profit dedicated to protecting the coast hosted a Beach Cleanup event, saw over 3,350 volunteers across LA County to remove over 8,500 pounds of trash and debris.

Groups and volunteers registered at tents set up North West of Santa Monica Pier, between lifeguard towers 26 and 28, where they received buckets made of recycled materials and reusable gloves and head off in search of debris and trash. Around three city trash cans were filled with trash collected from the beach.

Besides its vast beach, Santa Monica’s ocean was also scoured for trash. Many divers, including Linda Van Der Linde an advanced Emergency First Response diver, volunteered with the company Eco Dive to help with the clean-up event. “The dive under the pier was actually very surgy. There are a lot of waves today, more than four feet of waves. It was really cloudy, and you couldn’t see. Once you get down there it is really murky, and you’re going side to side, and you are looking for stuff to pick up,” said Van Der Linde. 

Once divers picked up any debris, they put it in a bag and carried it back to shore with them. Divers had to be careful to not interrupt the big groups of animals that call the pier their home, like sand sharks and starfish. Van Der Linde and other divers stayed for around 30 to 40 minutes before coming up to shore with several bags full of trash, including technological devices, bottles, toys, film, clothes, and much more. 

The coastal-wide clean-up comes as the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health periodically issues warnings for bacteria levels in ocean water that exceed State health standards. The department urges people to use caution if they plan to come in contact with ocean water and advised against swimming near the Santa Monica Pier. 

"We have a beach report card, and it’s a way to see what water quality is before you actually get in the water,” says Jenna Segal, Associate Director of Programs at Heal the Bay aquarium. “Santa Monica is heavily trafficked, with 80% of all trash coming from inland.”

Segal outlined the various causes of the increase in bacteria levels. Leading causes of this increase include waste and debris from the Pier, and storm drain runoff containing high levels of bacteria. 

“The ways we interact with nature, the beach, the ocean, is really important, in terms of preserving the integrity of our natural environment and creating sustainable practices. But it's not just here on the coast,” said CSUN Sociology Professor David Byons, who worked with students as volunteers for the event. “We know that how we treat the environment in the San Fernando Valley, and L.A., it all ends up on the coast.”

Areas of Santa Monica Beach, farther from the pier, are safe for swimming. Information on beach conditions is available on the L.A. County Department of Public Health’s Website.