Spring ‘24 Full 9-Mile Beach Sweep

We worked together and pulled in quite a haul of this year’s spring beach sweep! More construction debris was collected on west beach as well. Here is our tally:

We had 43 volunteers who showed their “beach love” for OKI … and we’re pretty sure they had a good time too!!! All of you did an awesome job, and we truly appreciate your time and effort!

Here are some pictures from our May 19th full 9 mile beach sweep:

Spring & Fall Full Beach Sweeps

Twice annually, in the Spring and Fall, Oak Island’s Beach Preservation Society to conducts a full sweep of Oak Island beaches, from McGlamery Street to The Point.

We tally and record the trash collected and share our spring sweep totals with Surfrider Foundation and we share our fall sweep totals with the Ocean Conservancy, in conjunction with the International Coastal Cleanup. Our collection combines with that of other beach lovers around the world. Charting changes in debris types and amounts over the years helps scientists monitor the health of the ocean and coasts. While our Adopt-a-Beach Access parents and other concerned citizens clean up every time they walk the strand, the bi-annual cleanups are the two times of year when we count, classify and share information about the debris we find on the entire beach.

  • Our Fall 2023 sweep was canceled due to tropical storm Ophelia, but 5 of our determined friends went out and cleaned their sections the following day! Thank you Chip, Diane, Kim, Melissa and Mike for your awesome support and love for our beaches!!

    Take a look at what they collected from just five of the twenty-one sections….

  • In 2023 to date, our spring beach sweep netted 88 pounds of trash, with a marked increase in construction debris.

  • In 2022, our two full beach sweeps netted 232 pounds of trash, and the single most collected item was still cigarette butts - for a total of 5547 butts! Our 107 volunteers picked up everything from the usual plastic and aluminum, to fishing nets and hooks, and broken beach equipment.

  • The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 nearly resulted in international cancellation of the cleanup, but BPS salvaged the event locally through early small-group collections and a few cleaners on September 26. Hawthorne Properties at Pine Forest provided hand sanitizers and snacks. The 48 volunteers were able to reach only about half of the accesses, but collected 940 cigarette butts, 202 food wrappers and 220 tiny plastic pieces among their 390 pounds of trash.

  • On September 21, 2019 Oak Island had 72 cleaners who picked up 223 pounds of trash. Both numbers were lower this year than the two previous years, but we still removed 1643 cigarette butts from the beach!

  • In 2018, Hurricane Florence hit at the time of the scheduled cleanup. Town of Oak Island staff and available volunteers cleared debris for over a month, but urgency for safety meant that we recorded no formal count or weight of items.