Volunteers needed for oyster shell bar projects at MacDill
2020-03-19 09:00 - 12:00, 2020-03-20 09:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | MacDill Air Force Base, 6801 S Dale Mabry, Tampa, FL, United States
Tampa Bay Watch is suspending all scheduled volunteer projects, environmental education field trips, and special events at least through the month of April since our number one priority is the health and safety of our supporters, volunteers, and staff. We will continue to monitor and reassess the situation with hopes of resuming our programs in May. Please check our website for further updates.
Click here to read a statement from Peter Clark, our President and Founder, on Tampa Bay Watch’s response to the Coronavirus.
Helping hands are needed to assist in building a series of oyster shell bars at MacDill AFB on the mornings of March 5, 6, 19, & 20. The project involves shoveling fossilized shell into mesh bags and transporting the bags to the shoreline. It is pretty physical labor with oyster shell bags weighing around 30 pounds each. The goal is to restore lost habitat systems to the bay, prevent further erosion of the shoreline and improve water quality through natural biological filtration.

The deadline for volunteer registration is one week prior to the project to allow time for security clearance, so you’ll be pre-approved for entry.

Click a date below to register as a volunteer for this event:

March 5, March 6, March 19, and March 20

Great American Cleanup
2020-04-25 08:00 - 11:00 | Camp Bayou Outdoor Learning Center, 4202 24th St SE, Ruskin, FL, 33570, United States
Register at http://www.keeptampabaybeautiful.org

Bethune Park Tree Planting
2020-09-24 09:00 - 12:00 | Bethune Park, 5809 Edina St, Wimauma, FL, 33598, United States
Join Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful and Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation to help plant Crape Myrtles and Sabal Palm trees. This fun planting event will limited to 30 volunteers.

Where: Bethune Park, 5809 Edina St.
Wimauma, FL 33598
REGISTER HERE

Return the Preserve Work Day
2021-07-17 08:00 - 11:30 | Brooker Creek Preserve, 3940 Keystone Road, Tarpon Springs, FL, United States
The Return The Preserve Work Days focus on areas of the preserve where exotic invasive vegetation and unnatural overgrowth exists. It is our goal to help return the preserve to its natural beauty.
Working with FOBCP leadership and Preserve staff, volunteers provide the much needed hands-on support necessary to remove nuisance plants providing a more healthy environment for native wildlife.
Registration is required. This event is capped at 25 volunteers. In addition, the Volunteer Form must be completed and brought with you the day of the event.
Registered participants will meet in the parking lot at 7:45, start at 8:00, and work until 11:00. Please bring clippers, loppers, hand saws, gloves, hat, and sunscreen. Long sleeve shirts and long pants are recommended; closed shoes are required.
For more information or questions, please contact the project leader: Evan Earle at eearlejr@gmail.com

Return the Preserve Work Day
2022-04-16 08:00 - 11:30 | Brooker Creek Preserve, 3940 Keystone Road, Tarpon Springs, FL, United States
The Return The Preserve Work Days focus on areas of the preserve where exotic invasive vegetation and unnatural overgrowth exists. It is our goal to help return the preserve to its natural beauty.
Working with FOBCP leadership and Preserve staff, volunteers provide the much needed hands-on support necessary to remove nuisance plants providing a more healthy environment for native wildlife.
Registration is required. This event is capped at 25 volunteers. In addition, the Volunteer Form must be completed and brought with you the day of the event.
This Work Day will be focusing on the Friends Trail located at the end of Lora Lane. Lora Lane is located a 1/2 mile west of the main Brooker Entrance off of Keystone. You travel one mile on Lora Lane until the road ends, and park. Registered participants will meet at 7:45, start at 8:00, and work until 11:00.
Important notes: There are no facilities or restrooms at this site.
Please bring clippers, loppers, hand saws, gloves, hat, and sunscreen. Long sleeve shirts and long pants are recommended; closed shoes are required.
For more information or questions, please contact the project leader: Evan Earle at eearlejr@gmail.com

Cross Bayou - Joe's Creek Clean Up
2022-06-04 | FL
GET TICKETS

Summer Cleanup
2022-07-09 09:00 - 12:00 | FL
Join us for our mid-summer community cleanups on Saturday, July 9 from 9 am till Noon at Grandview Park, Bartlett Park, and Coquina Key Park in St. Petersburg.

This event is an effort to clean up after the Fourth of July celebrations. A big thank-you to SeaWorld Conservation Fund for supporting us in our marine debris efforts and our partners with the City of St. Petersburg!

Our cleanup efforts will focus along the shorelines, so please wear shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty. Long sleeves and long pants are recommended. Bring a refillable water bottle to stay hydrated. Wear a hat, sunscreen, bug spray, and bring garden gloves.

Register for your preferred site:
Grandview Park | Bartlett Park | Coquina Key Park

Harvest native grasses
2022-09-21 08:00 - 11:00 | Tampa Bay Watch Marine & Education Center, 3000 Pinellas Bayway South, Tierra Verde, FL, 33715, United States
Tampa Bay Watch is recruiting 25 volunteers for a native grass harvest project. We will be working in the shade under our building to harvest plants from pots by essentially pulling the plants out of the pots and separating them into 4 or 5 different plantable sections. These plants will be put in the ground at our native planting at Robinson Preserve on Saturday, September 24.
In case of inclement weather, the makeup date for this project is Friday, September 23.
Register to participate: https://41207a.blackbaudhosting.com/41207a/Harvesting-grasses-21Sep2022

Oyster Reef Ball Construction
2022-10-04 09:00 - 12:00, 2022-10-06 09:00 - 12:00, 2022-10-12 09:00 - 12:00, 2022-10-18 09:00 - 12:00, 2022-10-20 09:00 - 12:00, 2022-10-24 09:00 - 12:00 | Tampa Bay Watch Marine & Education Center, 3000 Pinellas Bayway South, Tierra Verde, FL, 33715, United States
Join us at the Tampa Bay Watch Marine Education Center, 3000 Pinellas Bayway South in Tierra Verde to help build oyster reef balls!
This task involves pouring marine-friendly concrete into a fiberglass mold to create oyster reef balls, then taking apart the molds when dry. The reef balls will be installed at a future date to stabilize shorelines and prevent erosion while creating habitat similar to natural oyster communities found along shoreline areas throughout Tampa Bay.
Click here to visit our webpage to learn more about reef balls.
Click here to register to volunteer!

Oyster shell bar at 2D Island
2022-10-13 09:00 - 12:00, 2022-10-14 09:00 - 12:00 | Williams Park Boat Ramp
The project meeting location is Williams Park boat ramp, 9425 U.S. 41, Riverview, FL 33578, which is next to the U.S. 41 bridge over the Alafia River.

We will be installing an oyster shell bar which involves shoveling fossilized shell into mesh bags and transporting the bags to lay on the shoreline. This effort will help restore lost habitat by promoting new oyster growth, ultimately improving water quality and providing food sources and habitat for many species. To learn more and watch a video of the process, visit https://tampabaywatch.org/restoration/oyster-communities/oyster-shell-bags/.

Click here to register to volunteer.

29th Annual Fishing Line Island Cleanup
2022-10-15 07:00 - 19:00, 2022-10-16 07:00 - 19:00, 2022-10-17 07:00 - 19:00, 2022-10-18 07:00 - 19:00, 2022-10-19 07:00 - 19:00, 2022-10-20 07:00 - 19:00, 2022-10-21 07:00 - 19:00, 2022-10-22 07:00 - 19:00 and 1 more date | FL
Join Tampa Bay Watch and Audubon Florida for the 29th Annual Fishing Line Island Cleanup.
The goal is to remove hazardous monofilament line from mangrove shorelines. Monofilament or “mono,” is a fancy word for the commonly used plastic fishing line. It has great fishing utility, but can take over 600 years to break down and poses serious threats to birds and other wildlife. Improperly discarded mono and fishing gear leads to wildlife entanglement, accidental hooks, and ingestion.
This will be a self-led event, where participants will travel out to their designated location by personal boat/other watercraft any day between October 15-23 to target shorelines where cast line has been caught in the tree line. Volunteers will compile the recovered monofilament, to be collected, cleaned, and recycled.
There are a variety of sites in which to participate—all critical bird nesting habitat—throughout Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Manatee.

Click here to register to volunteer for this event.

Return the Preserve Work Day
2022-10-15 08:00 - 11:30 | The Friends Trail, 3620 Fletch Haven Drive, Tarpon Springs, FL, 34688, United States
The Preserve Work Days are hosted by the Friends of Brooker Creek Preserve!

The Return The Preserve Work Days focus on areas of the preserve where exotic invasive vegetation and unnatural overgrowth exists. It is our goal to help return the preserve to its natural beauty.
Working with FOBCP leadership and Preserve staff, volunteers provide the much needed hands-on support necessary to remove nuisance plants providing a more healthy environment for native wildlife.
Registration is required. This event is capped at 25 volunteers. In addition, the Volunteer Form must be completed and brought with you the day of the event.
>>> REGISTER HERE <<<
This Work Day will be focusing on the Friends Trail located at the end of Lora Lane. Lora Lane is located a 1/2 mile west of the main Brooker Entrance off of Keystone. You travel one mile on Lora Lane until the road ends, and park. Registered participants will meet at 7:45, start at 8:00, and work until 11:00.
Important notes: There are no facilities or restrooms at this site.
Please bring clippers, loppers, hand saws, gloves, hat, and sunscreen. Long sleeve shirts and long pants are recommended; closed shoes are required.
For more information or questions, please contact the project leader: Evan Earle at eearlejr@gmail.com

Reef ball installation at MacDill AFB
2022-10-28 09:00 - 14:00 | MacDill Air Force Base, 6801 S Dale Mabry, Tampa, FL, United States
This is a heavy project as we’ll be loading reef balls (200 pounds each) onto carts to be placed on the shoreline.
Reef balls stabilize shorelines and prevent erosion while creating habitat similar to natural oyster communities found along shoreline areas throughout Tampa Bay. Read more about the significance of the project: https://tampabaywatch.org/restoration/oyster-communities/oyster-reef-balls/
Click here to register to volunteer for this project.

Oyster Reef Ball Construction
2022-11-02 09:00 - 12:00, 2022-11-07 09:00 - 12:00 | Tampa Bay Watch Marine & Education Center, 3000 Pinellas Bayway South, Tierra Verde, FL, 33715, United States
Join us at the Tampa Bay Watch Marine Education Center, 3000 Pinellas Bayway South in Tierra Verde to help build oyster reef balls!
This task involves pouring marine-friendly concrete into a fiberglass mold to create oyster reef balls, then taking apart the molds when dry. The reef balls will be installed at a future date to stabilize shorelines and prevent erosion while creating habitat similar to natural oyster communities found along shoreline areas throughout Tampa Bay.
Click here to visit our webpage to learn more about reef balls.
Register to volunteer!
