On a recent cool foggy morning near Surf City, North Carolina, Joe Huie stepped out of his skiff, trudged through the marsh, and up to a small hammock. Hoping he wouldn’t see what he knew would be there, he gazed out over the marsh dotted with small spider webs glistening with the morning fog and dew. Soon, Joe could pick out the telltale signs of the pieces of docks, polystyrene, and other hurricane debris that littered the beautiful marsh.

The NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Southeast region, which spans Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, includes gorgeous sandy beaches, expansive meandering marshlands, diverse wildlife, significant history, and lots of southern charm. While sweet tea, hospitality, downhome sayings, and “y’all” are signatures of the south, so too are issues with marine debris.

The 2018 hurricane and typhoon seasons inflicted severe damage to communities and coastal resources across North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The 2017 hurricane season was one of the most active with 17 named storms; 10 of those became major hurricanes. Three devastating hurricanes made landfall, one of which was Hurricane Irma.

The 2019 Southeast Marine Debris Action Plan is a compilation of recommended objectives, strategies, and actions to address marine debris in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. It is a collaborative effort between the federal, state, and local governments, non-governmental organizations, academia, and industry, and aims to coordinate and galvanize new action to address everyday marine debris and debris generated by disasters throughout the Southeast.

The 2017 hurricane season was one of the most active and impactful on record. Hurricane Irma was the strongest hurricane ever observed in the open Atlantic Ocean and caused widespread devastation in the Caribbean, Florida, and the Southeastern U.S., including Georgia. As a result, Hurricane Irma ranked in the top five costliest hurricanes in the U.S. at $50 billion.

When we decided to convert a stuffed toy sea turtle into a model for simulating a necropsy (or animal dissection), we never imagined how impactful the experience would be for kids. With funding from a NOAA Marine Debris Program Prevention Grant, the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) MarineQuest created Turtle Trash Collectors (2TC) to help children understand the marine debris issue and to provide ways for them to address the problem.

The NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Southeast region, which spans Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, includes gorgeous sand beaches, expansive meandering marshlands, diverse wildlife, significant history, and lots of southern charm. While sweet tea, hospitality, downhome sayings, and “y’all” are signatures of the south, so too are the issues with marine debris. Y’all, the struggle is real and it’s a sight for sore eyes!

With financial support from NOAA’s Marine Debris Program, coastal states and territories impacted by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria received $17.2M in disaster relief funding to assess, removal, and dispose of hurricane related marine debris.

By: Sarah Latshaw, Southeast Regional Coordinator for the NOAA Marine Debris Program

While we may not have flying monkeys and green-faced witches to contend with here in the Southeast, we do face possible hazards like hurricanes, tornados, and severe thunderstorms. With these threats, there also comes the potential for a different kind of trouble--large amounts of storm-generated marine debris. In fact, almost a year after hurricane Matthew, many states are still dealing with the remnant debris stirred up by those storms, much of it in the form of abandoned and derelict vessels.