Summer Research

Recreational boating in marinas can be significantly detrimental to the ecosystem around the marina. Toxic materials, such as hydrocarbon liquids and oil, can cause problems to animals living in the immediate area. These animals include sea birds, fish and shellfish. An alarming fact is this: every year, from recreational boating, oil pollution is estimated to be 15 times the amount of oil that was spilled in the Exxon Valdez oil spill. That oil spill was somewhere around 1 billion liters! Also, another occurring problem is that 30% of the fuel used in two-stroke engines leak into the water. By encouraging maintenance of boat users’ engines, we can lower the amount of fuel that leak out into the water.

Boat Maintenance Tips

By having oil absorbing rags on your boat at all times, whenever a spill arises, you can clean up most of the spill. Even in large bodies of water, small spills can damage and spread to be a bigger problem.
Disposal facilities are available to clean up such spills and can be in several areas in the US and Canada. Mandating their phone numbers on every vessel can provide even the slightest way of help (US: 1 800 CLEANUP/ Canada: 1 800 667 4321)
Waxing the hull of your boat will reduce the need of cleaning it with toxic chemicals.
If the need does arise to use cleaning materials, use non-toxic ones before jumping to the rather potent ones. Vinegar is an excellent non-toxic cleaner.

Antifouling paints are used when sealing or coating the bottom of your boat. Three types of antifouling paints are ablative, hard antifouling and silicon coatings. These coating materials when used with an abrasive material can sometimes make the paint exposed which seeps it into the water. Using less abrasive material can prevent this.

"Eco-Friendly Boating." Eartheasy - Sustainable Living. 2003-2009. Web. 11 Sept. 2009. .


"Clean Marinas." NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management. Web. 11 Sept. 2009. .

= Gave mission statement of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and how they are working to improve marinas.

"The Clean Marina Program - Sea Grant – St. Johns County Extension Office." St. Johns County Extension Office – Solutions for Your Life - UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Web. 11 Sept. 2009. .

= Gave clean marina action programs in Florida. Showed me how people around the country are working to improve marinas.

"NJDEP-njcleanmarina.org-Clean Marina Guidebook (complete)." Google. Web. 26 Oct. 2009.

=This pdf file is a guidebook that the NJDEP uses to standardize marinas as environmentally friendly.