#cleanbeachesweek2021

[noaasanctuaries]

This week is Clean Beaches Week, the perfect time to think about how the plastic you use impacts the ocean and other ecosystems.

The trash we discard here on land can make its way into the sea, where it travels into distant ecosystems. By refusing, reducing, reusing, repurposing, and recycling, you can help reduce marine debris and negative impacts on wildlife throughout the ocean. (Photo: Douglas Croft. Image description: A sea otter at the surface with plastic around its body.)

[noaasanctuaries]

Don’t be in breach of Wildlife Viewing Guidelines!

We are celebrating the red, white, and blue with Clean Beaches Week to protect and preserve our ocean and Great Lakes and all of their inhabitants, such as the humpback whales of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Due to their feeding methods, whales and other cetaceans are vulnerable to encounters with marine plastic floating through their habitats. By keeping our beaches trash-free and leaving no trace behind when we enjoy our shores, we’re also helping protect marine life down the line!

Learn how you can respect, protect, and enjoy your #WildSanctuaries: https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/wildlife-viewing/ (Photo: Douglas Croft. Image description: A whale tail above water in front of a whale watching boat.)

[noaasanctuaries]

Enjoyed the beach for the 4th of July?

Make sure you didn't leave trash behind! From little plastic bags that look like jellyfish snacks to sea turtles, to this mass of fishing nets that washed up in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, marine debris is a huge problem for wildlife in and beyond our sanctuary system. Do the ocean a favor and pack it out! (Photo: Koa Matsuoka. Image description: Netting and marine debris being pulled from the water as small fish swim by.)