BIOS Students and Staff Assist with Island Cleanup Effort

Volunteers from BIOS spent a day scouring beaches, snorkeling in shallow waters, and diving with tanks to remove marine debris, as well as to document the types and quantities of materials collected, during an annual, island-wide clean up effort in September. Eight BIOS employees and students were involved in an on-water operation to retrieve underwater debris on Frank’s Bay in Southampton.

BIOS educator Kyla Smith (pictured in hat) and BIOS adjunct faculty member Philippe Rouja (not pictured) led the Institute’s team, made up of students from Roger Williams University and the University of Rhode Island. They were assisted by Bermuda Marine Services, which loaned a barge with a winch to haul heavy debris on board for disposal.

BIOS volunteers have been involved with the event for at least seven of the past 30 years, said Keep Bermuda Beautiful director Anne Hyde, a coordinator of the effort.

More than 530 people on Bermuda took part in the Ocean Conservancy-sponsored cleanup at 31 island locations, collecting about 10,000 pounds of trash.