Every year, we hear of more animals like this sea otter, trapped by a piece of fishnet, hopelessly entangled in debris made of plastic, that doesn't break down in the ocean.  This sea otter was lucky enough to fetch up at God's Pocket Resort, where he was soon disentangled (but reported to be one pissed off otter!)

Sea otters were hunted nearly to extinction but they're making a comeback on the B.C. coast and we can help them thrive.

We're Living Oceans Society and we've been working to protect Canada's coasts for over 17 years. From our head office in the fishing village of Sointula in the northern Vancouver Island area, we run marine conservation programs with a local touch and a global reach.  We partner with Canadian Coastal Research Society on our charitable work in Canada.

Lately, we've seen a huge pulse of plastic marine debris arriving on our shores, partly as a result of the tsunami that devastated Japan's coast in 2011. We're all familiar with animals becoming entangled in plastic waste; but evidence is now mounting that plastic particles from marine debris are entering the food web, carrying with them an extra load of organic pollutants picked up from ocean waters.

Beaches on our westernmost coast--the spectacular Cape Scott, the Scott Islands, Brooks Peninsula and Haida Gwaii--seem to be the hardest hit, as ocean currents sweep debris onto the shorelines.  There, sun and waves eventually crumble it into bite-sized pieces for even the smallest creatures. 

For many years we've been clearing local beaches of debris but last year was the first time we mounted a major expedition to a remote area and it was an enormous success. We removed nearly 3 tonnes of plastic debris from Sea Otter Cove, just south of Cape Scott. We sampled beach soils to see how far the plastics had broken down, so we might have some idea how big a problem this is becoming.

This year, we want to build on our success by going further--to two of the Scott Island group, Lanz and Cox Islands.  Getting there, as they say, will be half the fun...

These islands have important bird colonies and the surrounding waters are incredibly rich with marine life. One reason why life is abundant there is that it's so hard for humans to get there and find a good anchorage.  Currents are swift and the rocks are unforgiving.  Few people ever set foot on these islands, yet the helicopter pilot who told us about them says they are choked with man-made garbage.

In order to carry out the cleanup safely, we need to use a helicopter to take our cleanup crews in, and the debris and crews out.  This is an expensive proposition and we could really use your help!

The helicopter costs $1750/hr and it will take as least 4 hours on either end of the trip.  We charter a boat to get us out there and provide accommodation; and a barge to take the debris to be recycled/landfilled. We recruit as many as 20 volunteers to help us do the hard work of collecting and sorting debris and it takes an awful lot of staff time to plan the logistics for a 10-14 day trip in the wilderness.  All told, we expect this year's expedition to cost about $60,000.

We were thrilled last month to learn we had won a grant competition run by ADP, the payroll company; we were awarded $10,000 for this project and that will go toward hiring a summer student with the skills to really support the logistics. The Vancouver Aquarium agreed to fund some of the equipment costs, from the tsunami debris fund created with the gift of the Japanese government; but we're still trying to find enough funding to be sure to get to Lanz and Cox Islands.

Can you help us protect the creatures that depend on a clean and healthy ocean?  Our work will help keep it safe for the sea birds, otters, seals and sea lions that feed and rear their young in these waters. This is a global problem, but the solutions begin here at home: reducing the debris that gets into the water in the first place; and picking it up before it does any more harm.  Living Oceans and Canadian Coastal Research are partnering to work on both the causes and the remedy.  Please, help us Clear the Coast.