Fall Beach Sweeps Brings All Weather Friends Together Again to Clean Jersey Shores

2023 Fall Beach Sweeps volunteers ready to clean Sandy Hook!

Through rain and shine, Beach Sweeps volunteers showed up, buckets in hand, at a record 77 sites on October 21, 2023, for COA’s 38th Annual Fall Beach Sweeps. Volunteers from Essex to Cape May counties enthusiastically removed harmful litter and shared stories and photos on social media. The 2023 statewide Beach Sweeps included sites along the coast, inland, and along the DE River. COA also welcomed 26 Jr Beach Captains—more than doubling volunteer participation from 2022. 

Tropical Storm Ophelia left a tell-tale mark with storm-related debris of all sorts and sizes littering the shores, including many unusual items. This led to some particularly out-of-the-ordinary finds. These items are captured in COA’s annual Beach Sweeps reports in “The Roster of the Ridiculous” section. This year, COA also held photo contests each season for volunteers to share photos of these ridiculous finds, some of which have included an abandoned children’s slide, a loveseat couch, and a 1960’s model toy dinosaur.

The data collected will be publicized in COA’s annual Beach Sweeps report, which will be released prior to the 39th annual Spring Beach Sweeps. The 2022 Beach Sweeps Report is available now at CleanOceanAction.org. 

Waves of thanks to sponsors and to the committed volunteers who came out for Mother Nature’s unpredictable weather to support the ocean and participate in the Beach Sweeps! Looking forward to continuing the beachy-clean fun in 2024—sea you next year!

THANK YOU TO OUR FABULOUS BEACH SWEEPS SPONSORS

(Left to Right) Steven Hildner, Corporate Social Responsibility
Program Administrator at Wakefern, with student volunteers
from Marine Academy of Science and Technology (MAST)

Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (MATES) students as Junior Beach Captains at Grant Ave.
in Seaside Heights

First-time Beach Sweeps volunteers, (left to right) Justin and Morris,
with COA's PR & Communications Coordinator, Kiki