Third Annual Mission Possible: Clean the Bay Day

MISSION BEACH (CNS) – Volunteers helped remove more than 300 pounds of trash from Mission Bay and the surrounding park over the weekend during the Third Annual Mission Possible: Clean the Bay Day.

More than 115 volunteers, including four standup paddle boarders and two kayakers, participated in the three-hour sweep of the bay on land and water around Mission Bay Park.

“We’re from Carlsbad and spend a lot of time using Mission Bay, so we felt we should help clean it up,” said Gary and Judy Newton, residents of Carlsbad and members of Mission Bay Yacht Club.

In total, the volunteers removed 325 pounds of trash from the bay, fishing out an “unusual number of small dead animals,” a shopping cart, a piece of a boat oar, numerous tennis balls, a television cable, a baby rattle and a plastic dinosaur, according to San Diego Coastkeeper.

The trash collected at this year’s event added to the more than 1,400 pounds of trash already removed from Mission Bay and Mission Beach by Coastkeeper volunteers in the months leading up to today’s cleanup, officials said.

“You can do anything if you use your imagination — one person’s trash is another bird’s treasure,” El Cajon resident Celina Bowns said. She collected the trashed tennis balls so she could turn them into toys for a local bird rescue organization.

Last year, volunteers cleared 561 pounds of trash in one day, including larger items like a sailboat rudder, and smaller items including 1,499 cigarette butts. These run consistent with other beach cleanups, according to Coastkeeper Executive Director Megan Baehrens, who said items made of plastic are the most common item recovered by volunteers.