The 23rd Annual International Coastal Cleanup Day was a great success in Santa Cruz County on Saturday, September 15, 2007!

The results are in from the 2007 Annual Coastal Cleanup Day in Santa Cruz County and SOS is proud to announce that with all of your help, we surpassed our goal of having 3,000 volunteers!  3,093 volunteers removed 10,000 pounds of garbage and more than 4,000 pounds of recycling from 39 sites across Santa Cruz County in just 3 hours!

For the first time in 12 years, SCUBA divers participated in Santa Cruz County’s ACC Day by cleaning up debris from under the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf!  With the tremendous help of DeDe Houghton at Aqua Safaris Scuba Center we were able to coordinate 44 divers who removed fishing line, tackle and lost crabs pots from the pilings underneath the Wharf. 23 pounds of debris in total was removed along with several fishing poles. We know the birds and sea lions that often get tangled in lost fishing gear are very happy and thankful for the hard work of all of our dive volunteers!

The two Kelp Bed Cleanups by Kayak were also an exciting new addition to this year’s Coastal Cleanup Day. 33 kayakers left from two locations and paddled out into the kelp beds along East and West Cliff Drives to remove floating debris from the Bay. In total 24 pounds of debris was removed. Many thanks to both Venture Quest Kayaks and the Kayak Connection for their donations of equipment and staff time to make these two cleanup events possible and a success!

The five dirtiest sites in 2007 were:

• Davenport Beach where 67 volunteers removed 1,175 pounds of garbage and 48 pounds of recycling.  These helpful volunteers also removed 3 mattresses, 1 camper shell for a pick-up truck and part of a swingset!
  
  
• River Park on the Pajaro River had 45 volunteers who removed 1,100 pounds of debris.
  
  
• Panther Beach had 90 volunteers who removed 510 pounds of garbage and 465 pounds of recyclables along with a water heater, 3 couches, a washing machine, 2 recliners, a computer monitor, part of a radiator, an oven, an engine block and a sewing machine.  Way to go!
  
  
• The San Lorenzo River Water Street Bridge had 29 volunteers who collected 520 pounds of garbage and 390 pounds of recyclable materials.  These volunteers were paying such close attention to detail that they even found a couple of credit cards!
  
  
• The San Lorenzo River Laurel Street Bridge had 26 volunteers who collected 600 pounds of trash and 300 pounds of recyclables along with a lot of unmentionable material!

We couldn’t have made this event so successful without the help of countless boy scout, girl scout and cub scout troops from around the area!  Additionally, students from San Lorenzo Valley High School, Bellarmine Prep, Escalon High School, Bay View Elementary, Monarch School, Gault Elementary, Mar Vista Elementary, Aptos Junior High, Aptos High School, Good Shepard School, St. Francis High School, L.U.C.H.A. Elementary, Valencia Elementary, Santa Clara University, Happy Valley Elementary, Carden Academy and Pajaro Valley High School all came out to participate and serve their community!