A Day in the Life: #AHOIWasteBusters tackling marine debris and studying marine habitats

Hi everyone! 

I’m Daniel, one of AHOI’s wastebusters and Green Team leader with Conservation Corps NL. My day in the field begins with loading up our equipment and having a quick meeting with Matt to plan the day. Once we’re ready, we head to the chosen site for a quadrant sample. This involves a 30-minute beach cleanup where we clean and cover as much ground as possible within the time limit. On heavily littered beaches, we might only cover 30 or 40 metres, while cleaner beaches can stretch to 100+ metres. 

The AHOI Green Team, Daniel Laing (left) and Matt Smith (right) posing with the Conservation Corps NL sign at a beach cleanup in Woody Point, NL.

After completing the quadrant sample, we move on to audit the waste collected. This means weighing, sorting, and counting every piece of debris we collect. The waste is then separated into recyclable items–such as rope, plastics and lobster traps–and non-recyclables that require proper disposal. Gros Morne National Park assists by picking up marked bags of non-recyclable waste from coastlines within the park, while recyclable materials are taken back to AHOI for further sorting and preparation for upcycling through partners like Recycle on the Rock.

Daniel picking up debris from a beach in Woody Point during a cleanup.

After we finish in the field, the collected data is added to a database that includes all cleanup records since 2019. We also keep all the lobster trap tags we collect during our cleanups. These tags are catalogued by year, colour and fishing area number and the data is shared with the CLEAR Lab for research on plastic movement in the ocean. 

AHOI’s Green Team members, Daniel (left) and Matt (right), completing a waste audit after a beach quadrant sample in Baker’s Brook, Gros Morne.

In the afternoons, we often shift our focus to Bonne Bay for other projects. One of my favourites is working with our remotely operated vehicle (ROV), which allows us to explore the ocean floor, document species, and monitor habitats otherwise inaccessible.  By conducting transects–straight lines moving from deeper water towards the shore–we gather data on marine life across both deep and shallow parts of the bay. This helps us create an inventory of marine species, including aquatic species at risk, and associate them with habitats at different depths.

Daniel preparing the ROV to be deployed in the Eastern Arm of Bonne Bay to explore bottom habitats at different depths.

The AHOI Green Team is also involved with eelgrass surveys. Eelgrass is a type of seagrass that serves as an important juvenile fish habitat and supports marine biodiversity. Our work involves monitoring the health of eelgrass beds and comparing current conditions to historical data. This helps us identify and mitigate impacts to these vital habitats.

Every day in the field offers new opportunities to help protect the health of the ocean and the coastal communities that are connected to it, from reducing plastic pollution to exploring underwater ecosystems!