WIES keeping tradition of Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup alive with remote cleanup
January 7, 2021
AVALON—University of Southern California Wrigley Institute for Environmental Science (WIES) has invited divers to participate in remote underwater cleanups this year in an effort to keep the annual Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup event alive.
With gatherings still restricted by state and county regulations, there will be no gathering at Avalon Harbor for an all-day underwater cleanup this year. Instead, divers are asked to cleanup local waters between Jan. 18 and Feb. 20.
“We may not be able to gather, but we can still gather trash,” WIES stated on its website.
Registration for the 40th annual Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup opens Jan. 18 and costs $30 to be a supporter and $50 to be a participant. Organizations can also signup to sponsor the event. Registration can be completed online at dornsife.usc.edu/wrigley/wies-ccd-cleanup/. Groups of 10 or more looking to signup as a team can contact Katie Chvostal at chvostal@usc.edu.
All proceeds of the event benefit USC’s Catalina Hyperbalic Chamber and Wrigley Institute Scientific Diving Program. Supporters and participants will receive the 40th Cleanup T-shirt and participants will be entered to win prizes from event sponsors. A live awards webcast will take place on the traditional Cleanup Day, Feb. 20. The virtual event will continue the Cleanup’s traditional Trash Awards and Raffle Prizes, which will be live-streamed. The virtual event will also include something new this year, a blind-bid auction.
All trash reported to the cleanup from the 2021 event will be added to the Project Aware global debris tracking database. Last year’s event drew a record 609 divers and volunteers who removed 2,500 pounds of trash from Avalon Harbor.
“Through our vast community of divers, we have the opportunity to break a record for the most number of participants in a trash-collection dive event with Project Aware,” WIES stated on its website.
