Garbage warriors map debris with a purpose on Caye Caulker, a day four blog post by high school student Mathew Sandoval at Ocean Academy on Caye Caulker.

On June 1st and 2nd , 2016 the University of Central Florida and Ocean Academy joined forces to map marine debris along the beautiful coast of Caye Caulker, Belize. The purpose of this was to help find the root of the problem by creating a well-rounded map in order to help facilitate the most effective solution. Students spent the first day doing hard work in the field. Both Ocean Academy and UCF students were mixed and broken into 3 groups effectively named the Dolphins, Knight Winners and Angry Birds. These three groups were given the task of selecting an area of the coast and mapping the marine debris found. They were also asked to conduct short interviews with members of the community they met along the way. The second day was spent analyzing the data collected inside Ocean Academy’s computer lab. UCF and Ocean Academy found that along the coast where less businesses were present the concentration of garbage was higher. In simpler words where you find tourism on Caye Caulker you won’t find trash. The group of students then recommended that more trash cans need to be placed in areas with a high concentration of marine debris. Additionally a recycling plant is in dire need and members of the community need to be educated on the importance of marine debris cleanup, even if they didn’t produce it otherwise the problem will remain forever.