Boca Raton students join Lagoon Drift experiment to track pollution with purple drift cards

Added: 2026-05-01

[00:00:00]How neat is this? In Boca Raton, young [music] scientists are making waves.

[00:00:05]>> Yeah, let's explain this. TA's live at Silver Palm Park shining a light on how an experiment is happening there. We can all take place, TA, and it helps keep our beaches clean.

[00:00:17]Yeah, you can participate tomorrow at noon all the way from Jupiter down to here to Boca Raton. I want to bring in Laura from Injari. And what is a lagoon drift study? So, what it is is we use these drift cards. Um this is one that we've used in a previous experiment and we deploy them at eight different sites across the Lake Worth Lagoon and the local waterways. And what we are doing is we are using these eco-friendly drift cards to look at where marine debris is moving. So, you're polluting the lagoon with wood to study pollution. No, no, I'm going to stop you there. This [laughter] is not pollution. So, they are eco-friendly. As you can see here, this one had been in the water for 11 days before it was found and it is breaking down really impressively.

[00:00:57]Um so, eventually after two to three weeks fully in the water, they will disappear completely. So, we are tracking marine debris without adding to the problem. Love it. Cynthia, you're from Somerset Academy. You're the math teacher there and you have all these students you invited this morning. Why are you guys all here? Say hi. Well, cuz it's fun. It's fun and we're doing the study for Mrs. E. Oh, that's wonderful.

[00:01:16]They're here to make an impact on the environment and our world. And these students are our future and they are thrilled to be here. They're very concerned about the environment and I'm proud of them for getting up early and participating. What are the more vocal ones? Go up to them and let's ask them why they're here.

[00:01:33]I'm distancing myself, guys, because I have a cough.

[00:01:36]>> Um I'm here for you and I want to help like the ecosystem. Love that.

[00:01:41]>> math. That's >> [laughter] >> That's really it. But and the ecosystem.

[00:01:45]All right, let's go over to Peter here.

[00:01:49]Oh, I'm here to study marine debris and protect our environment. I love it. If you have something you want us to shine a light on, you can email me at shining a light at wptv.com.

[00:01:57]Cynthia, Holly, and Ashley Didn't Cynthia do a nice job becoming a reporter? Yeah, [laughter] great job. I think she's got a real future in this.

[00:02:05]Aw, fun. Hey, listen, great experiment.

[00:02:08]Excited to be a part of this. Excited too that everyone can get involved, be part of the solution.

[00:02:14]>> Wave goodbye, everyone. Bye. Hey guys, have a great school year. You're almost there. Hang in there. Fix