Sarasota Bay Watch (SBW) is conducting its annual Sister Keys clean-up on Saturday, Nov. 4. The event is a collaboration with Suncoast Waterkeeper, the Town of Longboat Key and Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant. Volunteers will work for four hours on the island and around the mangrove fringes collecting trash and recyclable items. After the event, volunteers will load the collected debris into a truck provided by the Town of Longboat Key Public Works for disposal. All plastics and cans will be collected in separate green bags provided by SBW and recycled. The volunteers will then be treated to a box lunch courtesy of the Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant, a longtime supporter of the event.
The Sister Keys were originally slated for development in the early 60s as the Shangri Isle Club and were once again threatened in 1989 when they went on sale for $1 million. That spurred a group of citizens to form the Sister Keys Conservancy in an attempt to buy and preserve the islands as a nature preserve. Longboat Key purchased the islands in 1994 with a stipulation that the keys would never be developed.
The islands underwent a million-dollar mitigation in 2007 to remove all invasive species. Native flora was planted and a two-acre wetland was created. Today mature mangroves dominate the waterways, which are rich with crustaceans, minnows, juvenile finfish and wading birds. Native species planted on uplands created from the dredging of the Intracoastal Waterway in the late 1800s have matured, making the islands one of the best examples of a thriving native marine environment in coastal Florida. The clean-up is part of a two-pronged ongoing effort to clean the islands of trash and support the resurgence of invasive species. The Longboat Key Marine division will be patrolling the Intracoastal Waterway to slow boaters. Kayakers and those without a boat will be ferried to the islands by volunteers.
The Sister Keys clean-up is just one of many projects that SBW is involved in. In recent years, SBW has planted over 1,000,000 clams in the bay and recently obtained a restoration lease in Sarasota Bay, a first of its kind, in its ongoing restoration effort. Other clean-ups (including underwater) are conducted at various locations throughout the bay, as well as an annual monofilament cleanup and much more.
Suncoast Waterkeeper (SCWK) is a Sarasota-based non-profit committed to protecting and restoring the Florida Suncoast’s waterways through enforcement, fieldwork, advocacy and environmental education for the benefit of the communities that rely upon these precious coastal resources. Their efforts have been responsible for major initiatives that hold municipalities responsible for mandates established in the landmark 1982 Clean Water Act. SCWK also conducts bi-monthly water testing of inland coastal waters. To learn more about the work of these organizations and join the effort, check out their websites at www.suncoastwaterkeeper.org and www.sarasotabaywatch.org.
The event is limited to the first 40 registrants, so reserve your spot today.
