New method for removing marine trash in use at Pillar Point Harbor

“It’s a robot that 24/7 cleans the water of micro plastic, macro plastic and marine oil,” said Shell Cleave, founder of nonprofit Sea Hugger, which is responsible for the project. Macro plastic refers to plastic fragments in the ocean larger than 5 millimeters in diameter while micro plastic refers to pieces smaller than that. 

Micro plastic is highly dangerous to the marine ecosystem in part because animals mistake it for food, slowly fill up on it and then die of starvation, Cleave said, adding that micro plastics are also found in humans.

“Studies show we’re ingesting about a credit card’s worth of micro plastic a week,” she said. “It’s made from crude oil. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to eat a credit card’s worth of crude oil every week.” 

Invented in Australia by the Seabin Project about five years ago, the device has a pump that draws in water and whatever debris is floating on the surface is then filtered through a catch bag inside it. The device is powered by a small motor, but a new solar-powered version is being developed, Cleave said. 

Cleave said the seabin device fills a gap as most methods of trash collecting and water purification are unable to filter micro plastics.

“It’s easy to get the big stuff. The little stuff is hard,” she said.

More than 700 seabins have been installed at harbors throughout the world and each one can catch an estimated 1.4 tons of floating debris per year depending on weather and debris volumes, according to the Seabin Project website. 

At Pillar Point, the seabin each week catches thousands of pieces of micro plastic as well as cigarette butts, plastic lids and discarded fishing gear, Cleave said. She and a team of volunteers have been documenting everything caught by the device and after a year, the data will be submitted to the San Mateo County Office of Sustainability, which awarded Sea Hugger a $20,000 grant for the project. Half Moon Bay Brewing Company and a local donor Chad Conover also pitched in $2,000 and $1,000, respectively.

The county grant also covers beach cleanups and various educational programs that the nonprofit offers.

The county is already exploring other locations at the harbor for additional seabins. Cleave wants to see the devices throughout the Bay Area. 

“We’d like to get them in other harbors, including at Redwood City, South City and in San Francisco for sure,” she said. 

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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