It was a wonderful surprise that 20 students from San Mateo College arrived early to join the Mussel Rockstars today (photo above).  One of the students brought her 3-year-old daughter who was heard to squeal with delight at retrieving some trash from a bluff. She danced around afterwards and made us all laugh out loud (photo at right).

This is the first cleanup after the permanent February 1 closure of the Mussel Rock Transfer Station.  Although it seemed to be much cleaner, I was informed that many people have been cleaning up on a daily basis, and this might be the reason it seems cleaner. Certainly the volunteers who ran the magnet at the place where the trucks used to turn sharply to exit or enter the station said that there was much less metal debris there.

A total of 34 volunteers brought in a total of 378 pounds of trash including 100 pounds of dumped wood and an artificial Christmas tree. There were about 7 pounds of plastic bottles, 7 pounds of aluminum and 20 pounds of glass bottles. Fewer cigarette butts were collected than usual (400 butts).

This was the first of two Japanese Tsunami Marine Debris cleanups to be held at Mussel Rock this year. We did not find any item that could have come from a long time at sea or have Japanese lettering embossed or painted on it.  However, we did find more of the blue Bimbo’s Bakery trays that were distributed during a storm from a vessel at sea, near here, in December. This time the trays were more fragmented than the complete trays found earlier in the year.

Thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy a lovely sunny day in Daly City today!