By Robin Brundage
Greater than 25 highschool college students from Somerset Island Prep (SIP) helped take away 16,467 kilos of rubbish from the mangroves close to the Key Haven Boat ramp, subsequent to Seaside Weekend Marina on Inventory Island.
Ocean Help 360 and Reef Reduction organized the mangrove cleanup. The 2 nonprofits are targeted on therapeutic and defending the coral reef and different native marine ecosystems, whereas educating others about their significance.
The present state of and threats to the marine setting motivates college students like Somerset senior Emely Sotelo, who stated her technology believes that such efforts are essential for native communities.
Instructor Maddie Opalsky, who organized the occasion, advocates for neighborhood service amongst her college students, who had been joined within the cleanup by volunteers from Naval Air Station Key West.
“It’s integral for folks to return collectively to raised our neighborhood,” Opalsky stated. “These college students are studying that service is impactful. They’re working with others from the neighborhood and fascinating with individuals who aren’t in the identical social circles by uniting to perform a typical aim.”

She added that the aim was to wash as a lot of the mangroves surrounding the boat ramp as potential, “regardless of the quantity of trash, or the trouble it took.”
“One pupil, Kanaan Pailloux-Paturno, noticed a 6-foot mini fridge dumped method again within the thick of the mangroves,” Opalsky stated. “He needed to dig it out of the mucky sediment, however he by no means give up and managed to wiggle it free. And I used to be so proud to observe two different college students work with him to create a path to deliver it out of the mangroves.
“As a trainer, nothing is healthier than attending to witness my college students change into concerned and engaged via service to influence the world round them,” she stated.
Volunteers collaborating in Ocean Help 360’s varied cleanup occasions all through the Keys have collected an estimated 400,000 kilos of trash, most of which was flimsy plastic and empty water bottles, stated Danielle Dawley, vp and co-founder of Ocean Help.
For extra info or to volunteer, contact Dawley at danielle@oceanaid360.org or go to oceanaid360.org.
Robin Brundage is a pupil and aspiring journalist at Somerset Island Prep, a constitution highschool in Key West.