Malibu, CA – A cleanup effort is underway after it was discovered that over 300 toilets and about 300 tires had been discarded along a reef off California’s Malibu coast, as reported by Discovery News. The reef is approximately one and one-half miles east of Point Dume and home to fish, lobsters and sea urchins.
The California Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project, a society aimed at procuring lost fishing supplies such as nets and traps, is overseeing the cleanup. The society contracted local sea urchin fishermen, scuba divers and others to aid in the efforts.
Workers have already retrieved some toilets from the 80-foot deep waters and uploaded them onto Marina Del Rey. They will later be transported to a landfill for proper disposal.
This cleanup is the first of sorts for the society. Since May 2006, society workers have worked together to rid California waters of nearly 17 tons of commercial fishing gear. The fishermen and divers have also retrieved over 1,400 pounds of recreational fishing supplies off of public fishing piers from Imperial Beach to Santa Cruz.
When littered in and around the ocean, fishing gear such as nets and lines endangers fish, birds, seals and sea lions. It also damages reefs and kelp beds.
The area where the toilets were tossed is under consideration by the state to be designated as a marine protected area.
It is unknown who threw the trash into this reef, according to authorities.
The cleanup is estimated to cost $30,000 and is funded by the State Wildlife Conservation Board and the California Coastal Commission.
Tara Monks is a staff writer and legal news reporter. To learn more about her, click here.
