Caribbean’s first seabin arrives in Cayman waters
The Seabin Project
(CNS): A V5 Hybrid Seabin has been installed in the water by the Cayman Islands Yacht Club in West Bay to begin gobbling up the rubbish that makes its way into the sea. This is the first Seabin to be installed in the region; it is designed for marinas, docks, yacht clubs and commercial ports as a part of the solution to the current global sea garbage problem. The relatively new technology was created by two Australian surfers concerned about the buildup of rubbish in the ocean. Water is syphoned in from the surface and passes through the natural fibre catch bag inside the Seabin. The water is pumped back into the marina leaving litter and debris trapped in the catch bag to be disposed of properly.
The Yacht Club is one of nine marinas participating under Global Pilot Partner sponsorships, which also has, or will have, Seabins installed in Bermuda, San Diego (USA), Helsinki (Finland), Mallorca (Spain), La Grande Motte (France), Halifax (Canada) and the superyacht marina at Porto Montenegro. Butterfield Bank is the local partner which has covered the cost to install the bin in Cayman at the Yacht Club.
During a press conference Tuesday Michael McWatt, managing director of Butterfield Bank (Cayman), said that as a bank operating on islands, it understand how closely tied the wellbeing of the economies and the people are to the ocean. “The fortunes of our tourism products and the quality of daily life for all of us, depends on the health of the waters that surround us,” he said.
Pete Ceglinski, MD and co-founder of the Seabin Project, said it was exciting to see Seabin ocean tech and educational programmes being rolled out in communities around the world. “The support of Butterfield has allowed us to install Seabins in several of its locations, and all of our Global Pilot Partners have helped us to be able to launch our commercial sales next month.”
Matt Bishop, chief operating officer of Active Capital Limited, one of Dart’s network of companies that owns the Yacht Club, said it supported the founders in their inspirational quest to clean up our oceans. “We’re always looking for ways to innovate and provide a clean environment for visitors and residents at the Yacht Club as well as in the Cayman Islands in general — the Seabin will help us educate the community and create a better way of life for everyone.”
The Seabin Project is launching its global commercial sales to the public in November.
Category: Marine Environment, Science & Nature
Someone forgot to read the directions. The Seabin is for cleaning our oceans, maybe thins might. It work so well for cleaning our Caribbean Sea? Well at least it’s being tested in the right place. Wonder if this thing has an appetite for Dart styrofoam containers. Maybe that’s why they installed it at a Dart marina so those with their heads in the clouds don’t have to worry about tossing the trash overboard?
Littering is definitely a problem and dumping boats is a shameless example of it. The two abandoned boats near the Yacht Club have gone but there are still two more nearby in Governor’s Creek – the large white ‘Aqua’ and a smaller fishing boat that was dragged there after taking on water at the Morgan’s Harbour dock (near Calypso Grill). I don’t know how the two boats at the Yacht Club were removed but would love to see the other two go as well – they are a hazard and an eyesore and have been there a long time deteriorating and attracting vandals. All complaints to various government departments and politicians have come to naught so far. Hard to believe that owners can dump such large items in the sea without any action being taken. The sea and the mangroves which those boats are lashed to are some of our most precious resources.
Contact MLA Bernie Bush about the Aqua. It belongs to him.
Guess again.
Nice start! Now lets work on not littering! I know some of this washes up from other places but it’s terrible how many people I see throw garbage out of their car window or from their bike. The litter around construction sites is appalling as well. The one in South Sound, Tides, I watched a worker throw his garbage along the fence. Whenever I drive by I notice the pile is getting bigger and no one is enforcing these guys to throw their rubbish into a bin!
lol!!! After 5 years of seeing this advertise on Youtub.
The Seabin has been around for less than 5 years and sales JUST started Summer of 2017. We are one of the first countries in our region to implement the use. Sooo, what exactly is your point? Progress is being made. Get off your condescending a$$ and support, or just sit quietly and let the adults handle things. There will always be naysayers, geezum! Thank you to everyone involved with getting this product to our shores! What a great start!
cayman needs to enforce it littering laws….
Sick and tired of picking up bottles and other crap along SMB, and seeing same in the water at the yacht clubs…what is wrong with people? Take your damn trash to the nearest rubbish bin. Stop ruining our natural beauty spots…and this Seabin is not an excuse for you to throw more in the sea or beaches.
You are so right. But it is a helping hand when it comes to tackling debris from offshore. It’s a start.
I agree, but you should see the number of bottles and other rubbish in the sea off Royal Palms and Hemingways….people leave bottles, tins, plastic plates on the beach for others to clear up, or as mostly happens, get washed into the sea. Those restaurants do the right thing by having trash cans everywhere, but perhaps more signage needed like “don’t litter, $100 fine) or similar….if that is even what the fine is. Is there a fine?
Again, totally agree! There is a $500 fine, at least there was when I was growing up. But we obviously can’t keep trusting in the government to hold up their side of the bargain. The best we can do is pick up what we see on our days at the beach and just in general because everything eventually ends up in the ocean. Try our best to do our part in our immediate areas. Goodwill is contagious! So the more people who do it, the more the intention will spread.
Cayman kind
Good idea for large marinas with mega yachts, but in Cayman it could be done more effectively with people in paddle boats scooping up the debris with screens.
In addition to the roadside cleanup at Christmas which provides money for unemployed people, government should perhaps look into summer employment for school children cleaning up the North Sound and beaches in Cayman.
With the right approach, I see no reason why the homeowner’s association of the many canal developments in North Sound would not contribute money to have the debris that piles up on the leeward end of the canals removed on a regular basis. Clean canals and employment for teenagers, a win win situation.
Another local expert….WTF do you know? How qualified are you?
Just the experience from having been around before A-holes were dime a dozen.
Why not pay a Caymanian to paddle around and scoop up garbage? I’ll start the initiative – I’ll throw in $3/hr, who wants to be my partner to meet minimum wage requirements?
Lets hope it is capable of cleaning up the semi-submerged/abandoned boats at the Yacht Club that Govt doesn’t want to do anything about!!
Why is it people feel that every problem has to be resolved by government? Someone own(s) those abandoned boats? Why is it not there problem to fix. Laziness of people on this island is ridiculous
They’re already gone.
The video say’s it has never caught a fish.
What will this do to the fish in the area?
Just wanted to know.
Not against progress just need understanding.
According to the designers, fish and birds avoid the bin. The bin drags in debris from the surface of the water so it doesn’t really effect fish. – In the worst case scenario, if a fish did get into the bin, then it would sit in the water inside the bin and be released when the bin was cleaned out.
Ok thats clear fish will stay in the bin and be released back to the sea…..what about those bags of ganja that might make it inside the bins who will be removing them….some $6 hour worker?
Keep the fish ill remove the ganja
Hopefully it gets my message in a bottle.
And you get your littering fine.
Lol littering fine
Hopefully you realize messages in bottles are littering and stop throwing crap in the sea.
I think it caught my sarcasm as well.