TAMPA, Fla \u2014\u00a0The cold weather isn\u2019t stopping people from cleaning up the Gasparilla\u00a0aftermath.<\/p>\n
The mess the pirates left behind was cleaned up by the city of Tampa and some local organizations.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
Multiple Gasparilla clean-up events took place on Sunday
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The Tampa dive shop, Adventure Outfitters, organized a dive to clean up beads from the water<\/p>\n
Divers said the beads can be harmful to the environment because of the plastic, and heavy metals in the bead’s paint
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Beads are continuing to be collected across Tampa<\/p>\n
Some people even got in the cold water to remove trash.<\/p>\n
The Tampa dive shop, Adventure Outfitters, helped organize the clean-up. Volunteers like Hunter Chamberlin made sure not to miss any spots, not even in\u00a0 the roughly 60-degree water.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s a little cold, I’m wearing a dry suit, so I\u2019ll be perfectly fine,\u201d Hunter Chamberlin said.<\/p>\n
Chamberlin submerged below the surface for an important cause, to get all the Gasparilla beads out of the bay.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe paint is made out of heavy materials like mercury and lead and zinc; so, when they’re in the water, all that heavy metal leaches into the water column, which is a very bad thing. So, we’re trying to get the beads out as quickly as we can before that happens.\u201d Chamberlin said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile on land, other volunteers worked on getting the shoreline back to normal.<\/p>\n
Brody Lundeby and his son volunteered today, but they have made it a habit to clean up trash whenever they are out in nature. The hope is to make it better for the next visit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not that hard, we just come out for an hour just to volunteer, it doesn’t take much,\u201d said Brody Lundeby, volunteer.<\/p>\n
About 1,044 lbs of debris and recycling were collected.<\/p>\n
They also found about 1,800 beads which will be recycled with the help of Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood group of very dedicated volunteers that are out here to help Tampa Bay be a little bit cleaner than it was yesterday,\u201d Chamberlin said<\/p>\n