North Jetty Gets a Face Lift
The Venice High School JROTC joined the Suncoast Reef Rovers at an underwater cleanup at North Jetty Park on Saturday October 13, 2018. They were joined by Sarasota Bay Watch, the Sheriff’s Office, and the Venice Police for a total of 50 people who pitched in for the event.
It was a beautiful morning with some of the first cool weather of autumn. What a relief that there was no sign of the red tide that has been plaguing us for the last months. The students may have been the most helpful youth group yet. They jumped right in and worked hard helping divers in and out of the water and retrieving debris as it came up.
Fifteen divers took the plunge and brought up nets, fishing poles, ropes, traps and a beach umbrella. The rocky jetty provides an attractive habitat for fish and other marine life – and it is healthier without nasty entangling wastes.
The water transparency was not very good but the group did the best they could and still found a big pile of debris.
What a pleasure it is to get together with a group of people with the most positive outlooks you can find. In two weeks there will be another cleanup at the South Jetties. Come along and bring a friend – or make a new friend.
The volunteers were 15 divers, 28 topsiders, 7 kayakers who cleaned up marine debris, 25 pounds of trash, 18 pounds of recyclables, 8 pounds of rope, 17 pounds of nets, 15 pounds of lead, 2 crab traps, 2 fishing poles, 1 beach umbrella and 1 dive mask.
