Skyline HS students, volunteers clean up Oakland estuary

Earlier today, the Student Conservation Association (SCA), Save the Bay, and the East Bay Regional Park District teamed up with students from Skyline High School and other volunteers to clean up part of the Oakland Estuary.

The Skyline students were led by environmental sciences teacher Catherine Kuhn and art teacher Michael Raytis. They were joined by other community volunteers, including a group from the Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation. Amongst the other volunteers was SCA alum Jeff Chen, who is one of the co-founders of Pickup America. Jeff and others recently finished a 3,000+ mile cross-country trip picking up garbage. A lot of garbage. Over 188,000 pounds of it.

Today's cleanup was focused on the estuary near the Oakland Coliseum, where the East Creek Slough meets the estuary. (For reference, that's where Peralta Creek flows into the estuary, along with Courtland Creek and Seminary Creek.) The volunteers broke up into three groups. One group picked up trash along the shoreline; another removed invasive species like ice plants and fennel; the third group rolled out a barrier and mulched to help keep the invasive species from growing back.

Thanks to all who turned out to help clean up the estuary and make Oakland better!

Lots more pictures of the cleanup: