Volunteers Remove 775 Pounds of Trash from Shores of Santa Cruz Island

Traversing a rocky and sometimes steep shoreline composed of soccer-ball-sized cobbles, a plucky group of volunteers armed with black contractor trash bags and gloves tottered along Santa Cruz Island’s Chinese Harbor.

“It’s challenging terrain to walk on. It’s hard to understand that until you’ve been there,” said Channelkeeper’s science and program manager Molly Troup. 

On Monday, almost 40 people aboard three boats departed from Channel Islands harbor at 8 a.m. to make the journey across the channel and were visited by three whales and a pod of about 800 common dolphins before making it to their destination. 

Aboard kayaks and a skiff, volunteers hit land and got to work, filling bags that they floated back to the boat on their tenders. 

Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, along with 18 public volunteers and partners from Island Packers, Santa Barbara Adventure Company, Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara, Tidy Seas, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) picked up 775 pounds of trash from the rocky shoreline, not often accessed by other cleanup groups, or people in general. 

The island, known as Limuw in Chumash languages, is the largest of the eight Channel Islands, and is home to many of the native flora and fauna endemic to the island chain, including the island scrub jay, which is only found on Santa Cruz. The water-bound landmass is significant to migratory bird species who make a stop for roosting, feeding, and, for some, raising their young. 

“Plastic over time as it weathers gets really brittle, and it breaks into smaller and smaller pieces,” said Troup. “It definitely gets mistaken as food for all kinds of birds.”

Starbucks and Big Gulp cups, food wrappers, Mylar balloons, single shoes, and various sports balls were the main things picked up on Monday. The waters of Chinese Harbor and the surrounding area don’t see much fishing compared to other parts of the island, so only one lobster trap was found, with tags dating it back to 2021. The team of volunteers removed rusted pieces of the Speranza Marie, the squid boat that grounded in the harbor back in 2022, buried in the rocks.

“It’s always astonishing to see how much trash flows to those really delicate, isolated beaches from the mainland,” said Laura Sanchez, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper communications director.

Sanchez noted that a few years ago during intense rains, the team found trash cans from Ojai on Santa Cruz Island, showing what she describes as the land-sea connection. When rains hit populated areas of California, water runs off into storm drains, carrying debris from the streets. Those drains empty out into creeks, such as Mission and Sycamore creeks, and the Goleta Slough. From there, that water — along with anything it may be carrying — ends up dumping out into the ocean, where the currents bring it out to sea. 

“What happens on the mainland affects all the ecosystems of the Channel Islands,” said Sanchez. 

Santa Barbara Channelkeeper coordinates two Santa Cruz cleanups per year, and another trip is scheduled for this fall. Troup said that funding has been secured for two more cleanups in 2027.