June 8th was World Oceans Day and what better way to celebrate than to clean up the beach. The University of Texas Marine Science Institute and the Mission-Aransas Reserve partnered up with the Corpus Christi Hooks and the Texas Coastal Bend Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation to host an island wide coastal clean-up in celebration of World Oceans Day 2019. Over 200 volunteers, including top Astros prospects J.B. Bukauskas and Carlos Canelon, joined forces to rid our beautiful coastline of marine debris such as plastic bottles and bags, fishing line, cups, and cans. Together they rid our shores of over 3,000 pounds trash! Activities took place at Mustang Island State Park, San Jose Island and Robert’s Point Park and the South Jetty in Port Aransas. In addition to the partner organizations, the beach cleanup was supported by CITGO, Kleberg Bank, Aramark, and Dawson Recycling. World Oceans Day may fall on June 8th each year, but we should celebrate our oceans, bays and estuaries every day.
The event was combined with the Hooks Conservation weekend and a $500 donation to the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve.