Mid-Atlantic partnership hosts marine debris summit in Dewey
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean hosted its biennial Mid-Atlantic Marine Debris Summit in Dewey Beach Nov. 12-14.
The summit is an opportunity to bring people together to identify and mitigate the effects of marine debris, said Will Isenburg, coastal planner for Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program, kicking off the event that took place at the Lighthouse Cove Event Center in Dewey Beach this year. Are all kinds of people specializing in different disciplines attended the summit, each with the goal of working together to deal with this problem, he said.
MARCO was formed in 2009 by a governors’ agreement among New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. The organization shares regional priorities to improve ocean health and contribute to the region’s high quality of life and economic vitality. Areas of interest include climate change adaptation, marine habitats, renewable energy and water quality.
Kaitlyn Dykes, interpretive program manager for the state at Fort Miles in Cape Henlopen State Park, was the summit’s keynote speaker Nov. 12.
In the context of how there’s a variety of ways marine debris can affect the lives of people, Dykes used the example the USS Eagle 56, a Navy warship that called Cape May, N.J., home during World War II.
Dykes said the Eagle 56 wasn’t really used in World War I, but was refurbished during World War II because the United States wasn’t well prepared to have German U-boats patrolling the ocean waters off the East Coast looking for ships to target. The Germans were wreaking havoc on the East Coast, sinking a ship a day, she said.
The Eagle 56, with a range of Cape May to Norfolk, Va., was stationed in New Jersey because the mouth of Delaware Bay was a popular shipping destination, said Dykes. Its crew was searching for survivors, because it was a retriever, not a hunter, she said.
Ultimately, after the Eagle 56 struck the remains of a submerged wreck in the mouth of Delaware Bay, the ship was repaired in Key West and then stationed in Maine when it was sunk by U-boat in April 1945.
It was the last ship sunk by a German submarine, said Dykes.
The summit went right into discussion topics following her speech. Subjects covered over the course of the summit included abandoned and derelict vessels, microplastics, marine debris policy, preventing balloon litter, an examination of case studies in the benefits of prevention and removal, and how to communicate data related to marine debris in a way that’s understandable.
For more information on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean, go to midatlanticocean.org or email info@midatlanticocean.org.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
