Volunteers Needed for Manatee River Cleanup

This Saturday, Keep Manatee Beautiful and Suncoast Aqua Adventures will team up for the Manatee River Underwater Cleanup. Volunteers are needed!

The event will take place Saturday, May 11 from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Palmetto Boat Ramp. The schedule of events will be as follows:

7:30 AM: Water Based Volunteer Sign In
All volunteers (divers, topside helpers, kayakers, and jet skis) need to check in and sign all waivers.

8:00 AM: Mandatory Safety Brief
Participation in this briefing is mandatory for water-based volunteers. Supply pickup will immediately follow.

8:30 AM: Boat Departure
All volunteers will use the Palmetto Riverside Boat Ramp as the base of operations.
*This is an underwater cleanup for EXPERIENCED scuba divers only. Low visibility, strong currents, and underwater hazards make this a challenging underwater environment. There are plenty of places topside where helpers are needed to assist the divers if you are not qualified to dive this event.

All divers out of water by 1:15 PM.

9:00 AM: Land Volunteer Sign-In
All land volunteers need to check in and sign all waivers.

2:00 PM: Lunch Provided at Mila’s

• Divers will be focusing along the Bradenton River Walk and the east and west sides of the Railroad Bridge.
• Divers will clean areas on the west side of Palmetto Estuary Park and both sides of the DeSoto Bridge south of the channel.
• Divers will spread out in areas as needed and will dive on their own timeline. This will be a two-tank clean-up.
• Divers out of the water no later than 1:00 pm.
• No diving is allowed in the Channel.
• Captains to monitor VHF Channel 17.
• Divers must carry a safety sausage or surface maker buoy (SMB) but are not required to use dive flags.
• Vessels shall display a diver down flag when divers are in the water.

Divers and boaters interested in volunteering can contact Cheryl Huntsinger at (941)962-1488 or Suncoastaquaventures@gmail.com. More details are available at www.ManateeBeautiful.com.