Worldwide Clean Up, Local Effort

BIOS volunteers participate in a clean up at Whalebone Bay Bermuda

Clean up presents a great opportunity for students to give back to the community. Photo by Kaitlin Baird

BIOS students removed trash and debris from Whalebone Bay during the 30th annual International Coastal Cleanup on Sept. 19, sponsored locally by Ernst and Young in partnership with Keep Bermuda Beautiful. Students at BIOS from the University of Rhode Island and Roger Williams University, as well as students in the BIOS Research Experience for Undergraduates program, teamed up with Bermuda Ocean Explorers for the event. In three hours they gathered 17 bags of trash and four bags of recyclable aluminum and glass, and removed half of an abandoned boat hull. Educator Kaitlin Baird, who helped coordinate the event for BIOS, said the experience “was a great opportunity for students to give back to the community.”

BIOS volunteers participate in a coastal cleanup

Photo by Weldon Wade, Ocean Explorers