The Marine Environmental Education Center (MEEC) in Hollywood needs our help, so the Beach Diver Team will provide an underwater debris cleanup this Saturday.

MEEC serves to focus public attention on the plight of sea turtles which depend on our beaches as primary sites for nesting. Turtles hatched in SE Florida return to these shores to lay their eggs each season (March through October). In their perilous journey across the oceans and back, they face many challenges but nothing endangers their species more than loss of adequate nesting sites. Presently, overdevelopment and mismanagement of Florida shorelines is the primary threat to all sea turtle species.

Other groups will be supporting MEEC with a beach cleanup and a craft fair until early afternoon. We expect to enjoy a grand tour of the facility, which boasts a resident sea turtle named Captain, displays explaining the sea turtle life cycle, and a shop full of sea turtle-related gifts perfect for Christmas shopping.

Please feel free to bring diving and non-diving guests, who may assist with land or sea debris collection.

Divers can expect a maximum depth of 25' and bottom times from 45 to 60 minutes. Open Water certification is fine for this level dive, especially if one has beach entry experience. Please bring a mesh bag, if you have one, or you may use some of the bags we can provide.

RENTAL GEAR is available with sufficient notice (not later than 2hrs before event time). We can bring to the site BCD, tank, regulator, and weights, if you let us know what size and how much. Air tanks, $10; BCD’s, $15, regulator set, $15; and weights (any amt), $5. To ensure your gear order, please submit payment via Venmo (tom-carpenter-8), PayPal (tcarpenterjr@gmail.com), and CashApp ($beachdiver).