Ever dreamed of ‘adopting’ a beach on Maui? Here’s your chance

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - In honor of Earth Day, the Pacific Whale Foundation launched a new Adopt a Beach Program in an effort to keep Maui’s coastlines clean and free of debris.

Through the program, individuals will “adopt” a stretch of shoreline, where they will be responsible for cleaning and recording the amount and type of marine debris found in the area at the same time each month for a year.

PWF said this strategy of cleaning beaches and collecting data is more consistent and reliable than sporadic group or individual beach cleanups.

The data collected from these cleanups will go toward PWF’s current marine debris research, where scientists will be able to monitor and evaluate the types of debris that washes up on shores, such as fishing gear, cigarette butts, disposable utensils and more recently PPE.

This will allow PWF to develop future educational programs and advocacy measures depending on the data collected.

PWF said it is looking for 70 applicants to clean and record data across 20 shorelines.

The organization said it hopes to eventually expand the program to other islands.

For more information and to sign up to adopt a shoreline, click here.

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