WHAT'S NEW
AT PADDLE OUT PLASTIC?
There's always something new happening at Paddle Out Plastic! Click on the links to learn about our recent paddles and activities, find out what's in the news about plastic pollution and about Paddle Out Plastic, and check out some of our more unique trash layouts.
We're celebrating 7 years of Paddle Out Plastic volunteers caring for our oceans!
Paddle Out Plastic was founded on June 8, 2019, World Oceans Day. Since then, POP volunteer paddlers have gone out on the water to pick up marine litter more than 370 times!Here in this video you can see many of our volunteers at work. What a huge difference they make!
Recent Paddles
Group Paddle Out on June 7, 2026
We found something other than marine litter on this paddle! Paddler Laura plucked a baby bird (killdeer or semipalmated plover) out of the water in LA Harbor, put it in a dish she had already found in the water, and took it to the San Pedro International Bird Rescue - L.A. Wildlife Center where they put it in an incubator. We found other wildlife, and just a bit of litter--238 pieces. Fabulous day on the water with Elizabeth, Jessie, Abigail, Laura, Jeff, Ken and Eva.
Clockwise from top right: Baby bird rescued from the water; resting sea lion; paddlers in the Port of L.A. outer harbor; ever present--and dangerous to wildlife--fishing line; oystercatcher on the breakwater; paddlers in the Port of L.A. main channel; mylar balloon on the water.
Group Paddle Out on May 31, 2026
It's difficult to convey how much fishing line we retrieve from the water. On this paddle we found all this line (and the two fishing poles sunk in the water at the end of the line), and this was without going under the fishing pier where we consistently find line caught up in the pier infrastructure and often with dead, dangling birds attached. And there was plenty of other trash, too; 1,030 pieces (half of it food wrappers and plastic film fragments) among 4 paddlers.
Clockwise from top left: Jessie, Eva and Elizabeth; recovered poles and line; Ken and Eva pulling up poles and line; two 6' x 9' layouts of the trash haul; line and trash on a kayak; before and after photos of one area cleaned; Jessie pulling up line; entangled sea lion showing why lost fishing line matters.
Other Recent Activities
Speaking at the American Association of University Women, Palos Verdes Peninsula (CA) Branch, Monthly Meeting on May 12, 2026
Board Member and Paddle Out Plastic founder Eva Cicoria spoke by invitation of the Palos Verdes branch of the American Association of University Women. Her talk, which described the activities of Paddle Out Plastic and included a demonstration of alternatives to single-use plastic, was very well received by an enthusiastic audience.
Table at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium Earth Day Event on April 18, 2026
Board Member Laura Raab and husband Jeff, Board Member Eva Cicoria, and Board Member Ken Swenson (not pictured) spent a sunny Saturday talking with visitors about ocean plastic as part of Cabrillo Marine Aquarium's Grand Re-opening Earth Day Event. A food wrapper octopus on a plastic litter mound, a "guess the number of bottle caps in the jar" guessing game, a photo and information board, and a looping Paddle Out Plastic video all provided entertaining education about plastic pollution.
In the News
Read about Paddle Out Plastic in the May 2026 news magazine of the Asia Pacific Civil Forum on Marine Litter, an Asia-Pacific regional network of non-governmental organizations, activists, and scientists dedicated to protecting the marine environment.
​
This issue included a focus on the power of local actors to address marine pollution.
​
Click on the image to open a downloadable version of the magazine in a new screen, then use the download bar to download a PDF version. Scroll to page 16 to read the Paddle Out Plastic Article.
Paddle Out Plastic participated in the California Ocean Litter Prevention Strategy working groups, and also contributed its photographs to this Accomplishments publication.
​
The Ocean Litter Prevention Strategy is the work of the Ocean Protection Council, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program, California Sea Grant, and the University of Southern California Sea Grant. It set goals to address ocean litter and plastic pollution. The working groups met regularly to discuss the work being done toward meeting these goals, and progress made.
​
Click on the image to open it in a new screen. Paddle Out Plastic photos appear at pages 13, 24, 49, 56, 58, and 73.
Unique Trash Layouts
Plastic Rapunzel
The plastic tree has deep roots #1
Your brain on plastic
Something's fishy here
Abstract trash art #1
Halloween fishin'
Sailboat of straws
On a bed of plastic
Abstract trash art #2
Time to reduce our plastic use
Single use plastic is the wrong way
The plastic tree has deep roots #2
Reduce plastic use
Reuse instead of buying new
Refuse plastic and use other options
Stop single use plastic
Sea turtle and ray in plastic
Nurdles
Too much plastic
Snack bags galore
Olympic rings
Don't be a plastic pigface
No nurdles
Unlucky jackpot
Abstract trash art #3
Plastic danger for wildlife
Happy Earth Day
Abstract trash art #4
Abstract trash art #5
