Clean Boating

Oil pollution is a major problem for ocean ecosystems; it can affect all life from the ocean bottom to the surface.  In general, pollution decreases the strength and vitality of marine animals by degrading their life support systems and habitat.  According to the California Coastal Commission, 28,000 boats cruise the Monterey Bay each year. Sources of boat pollution entering the ocean include; accidental oil spills, oily bilge water pumped over board, and improper disposal of hazardous waste.  SOS is dedicated to working with boaters within all harbors of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary to reduce the impacts of improperly disposed oil. SOS strives to keep toxic chemicals out of the ocean through providing free services, tools and information to the boating community. 

DockWalker Program: Enabling Boaters to Safely Dispose of Used Oil

Used oil can easily enter the marine environment and quickly contaminates the water.  The oil is very difficult to clean up and endangers marine wildlife.

Save Our Shores has been providing boater education and tools to reduce oil contamination through our innovative DockWalker Program since 1995. 

Reducing oil contamination requires:

• Adequate facilities for proper disposal of used oil and oily bilge water in our harbors
• Boater awareness of the dangers of oil contamination and the presence of oil disposal facilities.

To learn more about volunteering to be a part of the DockWalker team, click here

The DockWalker Kit

• An oil absorbent pad or pillow
• Information on how to be a clean and green boater
  
• Floating Save Our Shores key chain
  
• Fish ruler with information about recycling used oil
  
• Map of all of the oil recycling centers in the Monterey Bay
  
• Map of the local MPAs of Monterey Bay
  
• Information on bilge pump-out stations

How Can Boaters Use Oil Absorbent Pads?

These oil absorbent pads have many uses:

• Attach one in the bilge to soak up oil so when the automatic bilge pump starts there is no oil going into the ocean
• Keep one on board for accidental oil spills when doing maintenance on the boat
• Wrap one around the fuel nozzle when fueling to prevent any drips
• Place one around the fuel opening on the boat to prevent spills if the fuel overflows

Why do we run this program?

According to research done by the CA Coastal Commission, one of the three most common sources of information for boaters is word of mouth.

The DockWalker program provides one-on-one outreach to help boaters safely discard used oil and waste products by educating boaters about the problems associated with small oil spills, how to clean up spills using absorbent pads, and oil collection services in the harbor.

It is estimated that approximately 706 million gallons of waste oil enter the ocean every year, with over half coming from land drainage and waste disposal.  Most of it is from the improper disposal of used motor oil.

Americans alone spill about 180 million gallons of oil into the water every year, that is 16 times the amount of oil spilled in the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989!

Offshore drilling and production operations and spills or leaks from ships or tankers typically contribute less than 8 percent of the total. The remainder comes from routine maintenance of ships (nearly 20 percent), hydrocarbon particles from onshore air pollution (about 13 percent), and natural seepage from the seafloor (over 8 percent).

The oil that ends up in the ocean only stays on the surface of the water for a very short time and this is the only time it can be properly extracted with oil absorbent pads.  These pads are hydrophobic which means when they are placed on the surface of the water they do not soak up any water, they only soak up the oil which is why they are so great to have on board a boat!

Map of the Local Facilities to Recycle Used Oil, Pump the Bilge or Pump Sewage