Clean Ocean Action Beach Sweeps Saturday

Mannequin legs, a refrigerator, a carpet vacuum, a bottle of Holy Water, toilet seats, a $20 bill and a purple wig ...

Those are just a handful of the more unusual items that have been found during the annual Beach Sweeps, for which volunteers hit the beaches and the waterways to remove thousands of pieces of debris from the sand, the riverfronts and even underwater at sites throughout New Jersey.

Last year, more than 475,000 separate pieces of debris were collected, according to Clean Ocean Action’s annual beach sweeps report.

On Saturday, Oct. 22, more than 3,000 volunteers are expected to join in the 26th annual fall event at nearly 70 locations throughout the state. Tavia Danch, education coordinator for Clean Ocean Action, said more than 2,000 people are among the groups of 10 or more that have registered already for the sweeps, but many more individuals join the efforts as well.

“It depends on the weather,” Danch said, but every person who helps matters.

Volunteers receive data cards and are asked to record each piece of debris they collect, from plastic bottle caps to pieces of lumber to those crazy items — which have even included a kitchen sink. Because this sweep occurs after the municipalities stop raking the sand for the tourist season, the debris that’s collected primarily consists of items washed up as a result of the various tropical storms.

“It’s more a reflection of marine debris,” Danch said, and our consumer habits, noting that much of the debris reflects single-use disposables, such as plastic water bottles and caps. Danch noted it may be especially interesting this year to see what was left in the wake of Hurricane Irene.

The first sweeps were held at Sandy Hook in 1985 with 75 volunteers. That effort has since expanded statewide, with volunteers picking up debris at as many as 70 sites from Aberdeen in Monmouth County to the tip of Cape May, and inland as well.

Locally, sweeps, which run from 9 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., are scheduled for the following locations:

• Aberdeen — Fisherman's Parking Lot at Cliffwood Beach

• Allenhurst — Euclid Avenue

• Asbury Park — (two sites) 1. Convention Hall at the Boardwalk; 2. North Beach Site sponsored by Surfrider Foundation, Jersey Shore Chapter meet at the dirt lot near Asbury Towers.

• Atlantic Highlands — harbor parking lot on First Avenue

• Avon — pavilion at Norwood & Ocean avenues

• Belmar — (two sites) 1. Belmar Fishing Club, First Ave. Beach; 2. 16th Avenue Beach

• Bradley Beach — Gazebo at 5th & Ocean avenues

• Brielle — Fisk Avenue and the public access point at the drawbridge

• Deal — Philips Avenue beach

• Highlands — (two sites) 1. Popamore Point on Shore Drive 2. Snug Harbor Avenue Beach (behind Community Center)

• Keansburg — Laurel & Beachway avenues

• Keyport — Cedar Street (First Street at waterfront)

• Long Branch — Pier Village, meet at public access at Melrose Terrace and Ocean Avenue

• Manasquan — Main Street beach

• Middletown Township (four sites) — 1. Leonardo Public Beach North; 2. Leonardo Public Beach South at Beach Avenue.; 3. Ideal Beach at Ocean Ave. & Bayside Parkway; 4. Bayshore Waterfront Park at Fishing Pier

• Monmouth Beach —  Bathing Pavilion at 29 Ocean Ave.

• Ocean Grove — Main St. Beach; Meet at Flagpole

• Red Bank — Meet at Chapin Ave.  for more information contact Laura Bagwell at 732-533-3951

• Sandy Hook — Parking Lot D (Sea Gull's Nest Restaurant) — Site Sponsored by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, New Jersey Natural Gas, Wakefern Food Corp., ShopRite

• Sea Bright (four sites) —1. Ferguson Beach, north of Rumson/Sea Bright Bridge; 2.Gaiter's Restaurant Oceanside (meet); 3. Algarve Milano oceanside (meet) 4. Sea Bright

• Sea Girt — Boardwalk at Beacon Boulevard

• Spring Lake — South End Pavilion at Atlantic & Ocean avenues

• Union Beach — Florence Avenue at Front Street

For more information on the sweeps or to register a group of 10 or more people, visit www.cleanoceanaction.org and click on the Beach Sweeps tab.

Who knows what you might find?