Story by STEVE TRAIMAN
Photos from Byrne Ocean Conservation
The Byrne Ocean Conservation/Water Warrior Alliance evolved out of a communal desire to improve the dire state of the ocean. It is a collective of several nonprofit groups around the Tampa Bay area that hold marine debris removal and STEAM education a primary focus.
Paradise NEWS got this information from Jenna Byrne, director and a founder of Byrne Ocean Conservation. Jenna earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Sustainability Management from St. Petersburg College in 2017 and founded Byrne Ocean Conservation in St. Petersburg at the age of 28. Then she formed the Water Warrior’s Alliance, a local, grassroots, donor and volunteer-fueled nonprofit organization.
They work at removing marine debris, hosting an annual St. Pete ocean sweep trash collection tournament with over $10k in prizes, which is the fundraiser for Camp Coral. Camp Coral is a two-week overnight PADI open water scuba camp that assists Mote Marine with the Coral Restoration Project in the Florida Keys. The Water Warrior Alliance empowers our community to advocate for the local environment to ensure a healthy way of life for future generations.
Some Paradise NEWS readers may recognize Jenna from prior roles managing Rumfish Grill or in sales at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.
The Water Warrior Alliance acts as a hub to the partners and provides ways to share with the community the impact all the organizations are making in our fight to save the oceans.
The following are a few of the groups that make up the Water Warrior Alliance and have pledged to participate in the group’s educational and community outreach programs. Each of these esteemed and very active and conscientious groups adds their flavor and expertise to the planned projects, within the Water Warrior Alliance umbrella. Their participation impacts the overall growth of the alliance.
Included are Tampa Bay Estuary Program, LETTS DIVE!!, Sweetwater Kayaks, Freedom Boat Club, Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center, Mote Marine Sarasota, Stream2Sea, Florida Sea Grant, Gator Jims, Gulfport Dive Center, FWC, Save the Manatees, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, Keep Pinellas Beautiful, Sans Market, Mermaid Florida, Mad Beach Dive Shop, SCUBI JEWS, Don Cesar, Sea Shepherd, PADI, Mother Kombucha, Project Aware, 4RWorld, Auburn Supply, Ecojoia, City of St. Pete and The Chattaway.The Alliance meets monthly to discuss new and existing projects, centered around the growing issue of plastic filling up the ocean. They target the issue through cleanup methods and events, education and the promotion of plastic alternatives. These groups have created a network on which we can all learn and grow together.
Improving the state of the ocean through STEAM education is at the core of the alliance’s mission. The group focuses much of their resources on a science-based educational component. The Water Warrior Alliance provides outreach which includes experiments such as: boaccumulation, degradation of plastic over time, microplastic collection via water and sediment, and microplastic analysis as well as Water quality
As the group grows, more experiments are planned. They center on the dire issues facing Tampa Bay and the West coast of Florida, like the debilitating red tides and how we can counter them. On the invasive plastic front, the alliance is planning on researching micro-plastic combatants and organisms that consume plastic.
Their data is shared with the Ocean Conservancy and the EPA. Part of their vision centers around educating the community and future generations. They have crafted several educational opportunities to further that goal.
Some examples include: marine science marine debris removal and STEAM-based educational activities and analysis including Camp Coral Scuba Camp, Camp Coral Mini Camps, monthly seminars and local expert presentations, annual St. Pete Ocean Sweep educational presentations, scuba diving to examine the biodiversity of the bay, dip netting, water quality analysis, microplastic sampling and analysis, microplastic degradation, trash art plastic, environmental stewardship workshops, natural tie-dye, beeswax food wraps and other partnership programs offered by organizations from The Water Warrior Alliance.
GOALS, TRAINING & EXPANSION
The group’s goal is to make the community aware of the growing marine crisis and ways they, individually, can make a difference and impact.
A vital component to the education of the community is training. They offer scuba training provided by community experts during the Camp Coral programs. Through scuba, they expose youth to the local environment, while providing hands-on activities taught by local experts. This program is geared toward the manifestation of dreams, to inspire environmental stewardship and thus motivate individuals to take action and focus on coastal resilience.
The Alliance is currently vying for a permanent space at the soon to be renovated St. Pete Science Center. They plan to move their vital monthly meetings to the space, as well as provide multiple educational opportunities.
With a space in the Science Center, the Alliance plans to provide more STEAM education opportunities, designed to train and educate our community for jobs in critical environmental areas surrounding climate change, rising ocean temperatures, bioaccumulation, biodiversity, and erosion.
The group’s wide and varied community of experts within the marine conservation world are all excited to share their knowledge and skills with generations of future scientists and conservationists. The community has missed the center and all the science-based educational opportunities it offered to youths since it closed, in 2014. Its return could help the Alliance steer this and future generations toward careers in environmental science, mathematics, engineering as well as many other science-based fields of work.
Educating the community through marine debris removal is one of the core focuses of the Alliance. Through organized clean-ups, they inspire the growing ranks of volunteers to look for plastic alternatives and share their information with their circles.
The following list highlights some of the group’s organized marine debris removal operations: Watergoat cleanups, Beachside cleanups, Vessel Tampa Bay cleanups, PADI Project Aware Dive Against Debris cleanups- SCUBA, Stormwater Scavenger Hunts, and the St. Pete Ocean Sweep- World Ocean Day Celebration. They showcase plastic-free alternatives, from local organizations and businesses, in Pinellas County. Improving the environment and local economy by highlighting products, programs, and services offered by conscientious businesses and organizations.
In an attempt to repurpose the marine debris, the Alliance shares it with local artists, who then incorporate it into elements of their artwork. Examples include trash sculptures to disrupt the perception of the critical nature of our marine environment and educate youth and the greater community on ways they can help. As fast as the ocean crisis is changing, the alliance intends for such displays and material to evolve and reflect the current marine state.
WATER WARRIOR ALLIANCE
Jenna Byrne invites all to join Byrne Ocean Conservation and the Water Warrior Alliance today, noting that “together we can make a change!”
She seeks that challenge on several fronts. “We are focused on environment: impacting more than 600 marine species, 8-million metric tons of plastic are dumped into the oceans each year. Pollution in the world’s oceans is one of the biggest environmental issues of our time; economy: poor water quality stalls economic progress, hinders human potential and reduces food production; and health; pollution doesn’t just impact marine life, it impacts our lives. Help us reduce the toxic pollutants entering our food chain.
“Our mission is to improve aquatic wildlife sustainability, while reducing eco-toxicity, rebuilding the benthic layer through ongoing research, and active community conservation and awareness programs. “
Byrne Ocean Conservation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and all gifts made to this cause may be tax deductible to the extent of the law. 82-4736893, in St. Petersburg, Florida. For more details, Jenna can be reached via email at byrneoceanconservancy@gmail.com, or by phone to 727-303-9987. More details online at at www.WaterWarriorAlliance.org.
[Feature editor Steve Traiman is president of Creative Copy by Steve Traiman, providing professional business writing services since 1993. He can be reached via email to traimancreativecopy@gmail.com or by phone to 727-363-7531.]