JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — Dozens of volunteers gathered at the Jacksonville Beach Pier early Saturday morning led by Sea Shepherd Jacksonville with one main goal in mind, cleaning up Jax Beach.
John Drum, a local artist and environmental advocate, is one of the leaders of Sea Shepherd Jax. Drum has found a unique way to make use of leftover garbage, creating sculptures and art on display in Downtown Jacksonville.
"What we have [is] kind of found objects that are fused with things like fishing line and plastic," Drum said.
Sea Shepherd organizes clean-ups at the beach regularly, this time partnering with Citi Bank, West Marine and Fishbites.
"I think the main culprit [is] the cigarette butts," said Lisa Blizzard, another leader at Sea Shepherd. "Sometimes we also find things that might prohibit the turtles from nesting, such as large chairs or tents."
With buckets in hand, the volunteers scoured the beach for cigarette butts, cans, bottles, plastic and any other disposed items.
Blizzard said locals and visitors alike should be aware that leaving holes in the sand can disrupt sea turtle nesting.
"This is our beach, and we have to keep it clean," William Boudreaux of West Marine said. "No one else is gonna do it for us."
A schedule of beach clean-ups can be found on Sea Shepherd Jax's Facebook page, as well as their website.
"I think a lot of people take for granted when they walk along a beautiful beach that trash just doesn't appear and go away automatically," Steve Approbato of Citi Bank said. "It goes through the sweat equity of a lot of folks here."
Drum hopes his art continues to spark conversation on smarter trash disposal and cutting back on single-use plastics.
"It brings a bigger conversation that's not just about here in Jacksonville, but around the globe and all the shores that we have," Drum said.