Gulf Coast Kayak to host 1st Annual Estuary Clean-Up
Gulf Coast Kayak to host the 1st Annual Estuary Clean-up in Matlacha Sunday, Sept. 22, on the heels of Lee County’s Annual Coastal Clean-Up, an international clean-up effort to rid Florida’s Coastline’s of debris and litter.
On Sunday, in an attempt to help Keep Matlacha Waterways Beautiful, Cape Coral’s Boy Scout Troop 4 will be assisting Gulf Coast Kayak in an estuary clean-up using kayaks and canoes. Coastal Wetland’s naturalists Jim Niehaus and Bryan Stockbridge will be leading the scouts in the clean-up effort through the Matlacha Pass Aquatic Preserve on part of the Great Calusa Blueway Paddling Trail. The scouts will be paddling in kayaks and canoes collecting and removing litter and debris washed up on the mangrove islands that line the preserve.
Many of the Scouts participating in the clean-up were recently awarded their Kayak Merit Badge at Gulf Coast Kayak’s H2O Kayak Adventure Camp this past summer where they not only received kayak instruction from ACA Level 1 certified kayak instructors but also learned the importance of environmental stewardship, ecosystem sustainability and leadership skills.
Gulf Coast Kayak hopes to make this estuary clean-up an annual event.