The Beauty and the Beast for October Beach Cleanup

Over 30 volunteers gathered at Residents Beach for a beach cleanup on October 18, 2026.  Big thanks to our sponsors, Our Daily Bread Food Pantry (ODBFP) and Marco Island Civic Association (MICA), and to all the volunteers who helped collect 75+ pounds of trash in two hours!

The morning started out slightly cloudy but quickly transitioned to mostly sunny with a northeast wind of 15-22 mph – definitely feeling like fall on Marco Island. A bonus for this time of the year, our beach hosts a variety of shorebirds, including Black Skimmers, Royal Terns, and various sandpipers – and they are often seen along the shoreline preening, foraging, and vocalizing. When disturbed, they often take off together, and according to FWC, activities like walking near shorebird flocks can pose a significant threat. All shorebirds, including gulls and pelicans, are protected by the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act; Florida’s Endangered and Threatened Species Rule and Marco Island City Ordinance 08-14.

Suggested Etiquette Around Shorebirds

No dogs on the beach.

Don’t feed the birds.

Do not flush the birds.

Discard fishing lines appropriately – birds can get entangled.

Walk around flocks of resting shorebirds.

Keep your beach clean and plastic-free.

Enjoy wildlife from a distance.

Join a Beach Cleanup and you might find a Junonia (Scaphella junonia), a highly sought-after seashell. The shells, often produced in deep waters, typically wash ashore after a storm or hurricane, which makes them a prized find for shellers. Cynthia Lenhoff, one of our beach cleanup volunteers, found the ultimate surprise at the water’s edge of the Emerald Beach Condo.

Mangrove propagules (beans) were also plentiful along the shoreline – and these are the seeds or seedlings of mangrove trees, specifically, the black mangrove. After a storm, Marco’s beaches often see mangrove propagules scattered along the shoreline.  Mangroves play a crucial role in coastal restoration as they help stabilize shorelines.

So, what do you do with them? The community of Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation’s (SCCF) Coastal Watch collects these mangrove propagules to use in restoration plantings. They ask the public to keep an eye out for the green beans washed ashore and to collect them, put them in a bucket of water, and drop them off at SCCF’s offices. There is no such program unfortunately close to Marco. We could use those propagules to help with the mangrove restoration at Sand Dollar Island.

A big thank you to our law enforcement partners from Marco Island Code Enforcement Officers, J.D. Shelton and James Muldoon. They both stopped by, lending their assistance to volunteers to move heavier objects. Andrew Wright of Public Works also joined the October Beach Cleanup.  He’s been with the City for almost ten years and started as a part-time park attendant and worked his way up to Park Maintenance and then now with Public Works.

The monthly beach cleanup is organized by the City of Marco Island’s Beach and Coastal Resources Advisory Committee. They provide the bags, gloves, buckets, and grabbers for use by the cleanup volunteers. If you would like to be a Beach Cleanup Sponsor for 2027, please indicate the date of your choice and contact Amber Stonik at: AStonik@cityofmarcoisland.com.

Next Beach Cleanup: November 21, 2026, South Beach from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM, sponsored by the Marco Island Woman’s Club.