Sea Life Aquarium Cleans Up Tamarack

On Saturday, April 25, 2009 more than 140 volunteers joined Legoland’s Sea Life Aquarium to clean up Tamarack State Beach as part of the 7th Annual Creek To Bay Clean Up.

“This is the first time we at SEA LIFE Aquarium have done something like this,” said Dirk Westfall, Assistant Curator of SEA LIFE Aquarium and team leader for the cleanup, “and we are thrilled that so many people came out to help with the cleanup. It is good to know that so many people out there are just as passionate about the ocean and the environment as we are.”

Thanks for all the work. It looks nice.
SEA LIFE™ Aquarium Adopts Tamarack Beach for Creek to Bay Cleanup
Couch Cushion, Bag of Bananas among Most Unusual Finds

CARLSBAD, Calif. (April 25, 2009) – More than 140 volunteers joined SEA LIFE™ Aquarium today at Tamarack State Beach for the seventh annual Creek to Bay Cleanup. Volunteers scoured the famous stretch of beach for debris while enjoying live music, face painting, a trash timeline and scavenger hunt. All volunteers at Tamarack State Beach also received a free child’s ticket to SEA LIFE.

“This is the first time we at SEA LIFE Aquarium have done something like this,” said Dirk Westfall, Assistant Curator of SEA LIFE Aquarium and team leader for the cleanup, “and we are thrilled that so many people came out to help with the cleanup. It is good to know that so many people out there are just as passionate about the ocean and the environment as we are.”

The Creek to Bay Cleanup is a countywide event coordinated by I Love a Clean San Diego and includes more than 60 sites spanning San Diego’s beaches, waterways, canyons and parks. Last year, more than 4,000 volunteers removed 170,806 pounds of debris from more than 150 miles of coastline and inland areas.

Volunteers at Tamarack State Beach included employees from SEA LIFE Aquarium and LEGOLAND California and their families plus many local junior high and high school students working on community service hours.

Participants competed in a scavenger hunt, trying to find trash on the beach labeled with SEA LIFE stickers. The lucky beach combers who found the marked trash received prizes including SEA LIFE tickets, goodies from the Aquarium and from I Love a Clean San Diego. The prize for the most unusual find went to Peter Ronchetti, the new General Manager of LEGOLAND California Resort, who found a giant couch cushion and a big bag of rotten bananas.

The “trash timeline,” which was on display at the cleanup, is a miniature version of a new feature that can found inside SEA LIFE Aquarium. The “trash timeline” challenges children to match pieces of garbage commonly found in landfills – such as plastic bags, Styrofoam cups and aluminum cans – to the number of years it takes for them to break down.

The Creek to Bay Cleanup is part of The Great American Cleanup – a national volunteer event coordinated by the non-profit organization Keep America Beautiful. The Great American Cleanup engages millions of volunteers across America for three months of community beautification service projects including activities such as tree planting, graffiti removal, park maintenance, school facelifts, invasive plant removal and beach and inland cleanups.