Mississippi Aquarium holds beach clean up

The Mississippi Aquarium kicked off its Changing Tides Festival with a beach clean-up at Jones Park over the weekend.

The clean up is in celebration of the Mississippi Aquarium’s newest expansion which features a kelp forest, tropical jungle, and warm water ocean habitats.

The Mississippi Coastal Cleanup Program provided volunteers with grabbers, garbage bags, gloves to aid in the cleaning process.

Volunteers were given data sheets, allowing them to track the different types of pollution being collected. Volunteer Coordinator Anna Greene said, “There’s a lot of animals that utilize the beach as habitats, places that they can have their babies here, but also, it’s all connected. So, anything that’s on the beach could potentially get into our Sound and the Gulf of Mexico.”

Volunteer Jeffrey Segel said, “Well, I love the beach. I love the marine environment and the Mississippi Aquarium is a great place to share knowledge and bring people into the environment and share with them the wonderful things we have out here in the Mississippi Sound, the Gulf of Mexico, and beyond.”