Posts tagged with

NOAA’s Marine Debris Program

Contributions to Coastal Resilience: A Look Back on the Year in Emergency Response

Posted Wed, 01/31/2024 - 10:19
By Doug Helton, Regional Operations Supervisor, Emergency Response Division

Last year, we provided scientific support for 162 new incidents — including 132 oil spills, 13 chemical spills, and 17 other incidents—such as severe storms, marine debris, and whale carcass drift requests. In our latest blog, we're taking a look back at our 2023 response efforts

Using Response Technology and Tools to Prevent and Remove Marine Debris

Posted Fri, 10/07/2022 - 11:29
By the NOAA Marine Debris Program Response Team

Hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis are among nature's most powerful and destructive events, and when these natural disasters strike, they can create massive amounts of debris. That’s why NOAA's Marine Debris Program, within the Office of Response and Restoration, is participating in National Preparedness Month and highlighting NOAA technology, tools, and resources created to help prevent and respond to disaster-generated marine debris. 

How Marine Debris Travels

Posted Mon, 05/02/2022 - 01:11
By Alexandria Brake, OR&R Marine Debris Program

Just like people who travel around the world, our trash travels and it can go pretty far! Even if it’s dropped in an inland location, litter can easily become marine debris. Then it can move around the ocean, being pushed around by wind and currents, and traveling to far off locations, from remote islands to the depths of the ocean.

Researching, Preventing, and Reducing Marine Debris on our Shores in FY21

Posted Wed, 12/15/2021 - 14:52
By the Office of Response and Restoration Marine Debris Program

This past year has certainly been a busy one for OR&R's Marine Debris Program as it moved forward under the guidance of a new 2021-2025 Strategic Plan and six program pillars—prevention, removal, research, monitoring and detection, response, and coordination. Here’s a closer look at a few of the major accomplishments from the Marine Debris Program and our partners this past fiscal year.

A Mission to Mālama Through Marine Debris Removal

Posted Thu, 12/09/2021 - 13:07
Office of Response and Restoration Marine Debris Program

On Wednesday, September 22, the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center’s Marine Debris Project team, joined by the non-profit Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project, marked the completion of their marine debris removal mission in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (monument). The team arrived at Pearl Harbor aboard the charter vessel IMUA along with the nearly 124,000 pounds of marine debris removed during the 30-day mission.

Minds Behind OR&R: Meet Marine Debris Program’s Tom Barry

Posted Fri, 01/24/2020 - 17:25
By Jennifer Simms, Office of Response and Restoration Marine Debris Program

This feature is part of a monthly series profiling scientists and technicians who provide exemplary contributions to the mission of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R). In this month’s feature meet Tom Barry, a management and program analyst in OR&R’s Marine Debris Program.

Is Marine Debris Impacting Your Beach Day, and Your Wallet?

Posted Thu, 08/23/2018 - 13:37

Imagine you’ve planned a big day at the beach with your family and friends, loaded up the car with supplies, and traveled out to your favorite spot, only to find a beach littered with plastic beverage bottles, stray fishing line, chip bags, cigarette butts, and other debris. Would you stay and play, or be on your way? This is the choice that many face when heading to their local beaches.