On Saturday May 3, 2008 22 FEHA Halifax District members and their guests participated in an annual Halifax River clean up from 9:00 AM till Noon. This year Halifax District members chose Tomoka State Park to clean up.
The FEHA crew broke up into several trash “search” parties to clean the various areas of Tomoka State Park. 2 boats and 2 kayaks were also launched to pick up trash along the park’s shorelines and spoil islands. Two FEHA members are part of Volusia County’s Marine Strandings Team; which was a good thing as a dead manatee was found in the water. Only members of the Marine strandings team are allowed to handle manatees. The manatee was brought back to the boat dock for retrieval by a Florida Fish and Wildlife Biologist who will perform a necropsy to try and determine the cause of death. Only the strandings team members touched the manatee as it is illegal for all others to handle manatees which are a Federally protected species. [Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973, makes it illegal to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine mammal.]
At the end of the morning a large commercial dumpster was half filled with trash collected by FEHA Halifax district members and guests. We then relocated to a local restaurant – River Grille - on the Tomoka River and enjoyed a lunch while comparing notes on what we found.
View the Tomoka River Clean Uo photos
Submitted by: Jack Towle
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