Rozalia Project Trash Tour

by James Lyne on 28 Jul 2011 Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean wraps up action/education phase of Trash Tour 2011 of the New England coast.

The first phase of Rozalia Project’s Trash Tour 2011 onboard the sailing research vessel American Promise, was focused on marine debris removal and education. Here are some highlights and statistics from the Trash Tour to date:

2,525 pieces of trash were removed from the surface to the sea floor using an ROV(remotely operated vehicle), sidescan and imaging sonar plus nets
1,047 people participated in Rozalia Project’s programs
32,877 facebook views
479 miles sailed
380’ of rope recovered
Eight derelict lobster traps removed
Five state-of-the-art systems were used to find and recover marine debris from the sea floor: Video Ray ROV, Blueview imaging sonar, Tritech Starfish side scan sonar, Lyyn image enhancement and KCF Smart Tether positioning system
Two Newfoundland dogs became sailors
One historic Herreshoff fisherman anchor recovered

In Boston, MA: The Rozalia Project crew worked with over 407 participants from Courageous Sailing and Boston Community Boating to recover more than 1,758 pieces of trash from Boston Harbor and the Charles River. Boston harbor with strong SW winds brought continuous floating marine debris past American Promise at Courageous Sailing’s dock. The ROV found reefs of beverage cans and plastic cups on the sea and river floor. The large volume of microplastics was a surprise (as they are usually associated with ocean gyres) and Rozalia Project is very excited about this discovery and future plans in Massachusetts Bay.

In Newport, RI: Hosted by Sail Newport, Rozalia Project and 212 junior sailors made a dent in the beer can mountain under the docks and recovered 8 derelict lobster traps and made a discovery… these traps have been acting as passive trash collectors. Every trap contained an array of cans, bottles, plastic, boat parts and even a golf ball.

In Providence, RI: Rozalia Project teamed up with Providence Community Boating to provide a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program for 127 kids from a Providence summer school program. For many of these kids, ages 11-14, this was their first meaningful interaction with the river and their first opportunity to see underwater, co-pilot an ROV and read an underwater sonar while learning about the effects of trash in the water and doing something about it: they helped remove 166 pieces of trash from the Providence River.

In Oyster Bay: 136 sailors of all ages from The Waterfront Center and Rozalia Project crew found 41 pieces of trash over 2 days. The commercial oyster dredges keep the harbor floor clean of marine debris

In Jamestown: 60 junior sailors at Conanicut Yacht Club cleaned up 16 pieces of marine debris off the seafloor.

In Bristol, RI: Rozalia Project’s crew recovered an historic anchor that is now part of a display in the Herreshoff Museum.

In Clark’s Cove just east of New Bedford: Rozalia Project and 45 junior sailors from New Bedford Community Boating found one plastic bag. Clarks Cove is a superfund site, yet one of the cleanest in terms of marine debris.

The second phase of the Rozalia Project Trash Tour 2011 is focused on marine debris removal and research and begins August 2 in Portsmouth, NH surveying the Isle of Shoals looking for accumulations of derelict fishing gear for the Blue Ocean Society. After the survey, Rozalia Project will turn their attention to focus on microplastic discoveries in Boston harbor and Massachusetts Bay. American Promise will take the weekend of August 20-21 to be part of the celebration of the life of Dodge Morgan held Sunday August 21 at Portland Yacht Services. For the schedule as it evolves, visit the website, blog or the Rozalia Project Facebook page (search Rozalia Project).

This phase of the Trash Tour was made possible by Kilroy Realty Corporation, Boat US Foundation and the American Chemistry Council.

About Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean:
Rozalia Project is a 501(c)(3) non profit whose mission is to find and remove marine debris from the surface to the sea floor through action, technology, outreach and research.

Rozalia Project was founded by Rachael Z. Miller and James Lyne in 2010. Rozalia Project specialise in underwater clean up, using a remotely operated vehicle equipped with video, manipulator arms, positioning system and imaging sonar that can locate and pick up debris and bring it back to the surface. Rozalia Project also utilizes side scan sonar to survey whole areas in order to pinpoint locations to launch the ROV’s and pick up the debris.

Rozalia Project's mothership is the round the world voyager, American Promise. This 60ft sailboat was built for ocean voyages and is the perfect vehicle for marine debris removal and research.

Rozalia Project website