--- title: "We salute the sailors who spent an entire day picking up a literal ton of trash on a remote island" description: "More than 50 Navy sailors and civilians performed a huge police call on San Nicolas Island, off the coast of southern California." date: "2022-10-13" modified: "2022-10-13" authors: - name: "David Roza" job_title: "YouTube Writer/Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/david-roza/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/navy-ocean-trash-clean-up/" categories: - "Around the World" - "Military Branches" - "Navy" - "News" - "United States" --- # We salute the sailors who spent an entire day picking up a literal ton of trash on a remote island ![trash]() *The U.S. Navy conducted an annual coastal cleanup on the remote beaches of San Nicolas Island (SNI), the most isolated of the California Channel Islands, located about 60 miles offshore, and South of Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) Point Mugu. (Ensign Drew Verbis/U.S. Navy)* Shooting guns is fun, but not so much fun is the ritual of ‘police calling,’ where U.S. troops line up at the range after they’re done shooting to pick up every single spent casing they can find. Task & Purpose has written several articles about how much of a drag it can be to police call spent brass[ at the range](), or to clean up the base grounds in an[ early celebration of Earth Day](). But those tasks pale in comparison to what several sailors had to do earlier this month. Add this to your list of isolated military installations you’ve never heard of: about 60 miles off the coast of southern California is a tiny landmass called San Nicolas Island. The few residents of the island include shrubs, seabirds, island foxes, lizards and Naval Outlying Landing Field San Nicolas Island. The Navy owns the island, since the isolation makes it an ideal training[ and testing]() facility. But the island is not isolated enough to escape one of humankind’s most ubiquitous byproducts: garbage. Earlier this month, nearly 50 sailors and civilians assigned to Naval Base Ventura County and the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division journeyed to San Nicolas Island, where they removed more than two thousand pounds of trash and debris on three of the island’s beaches. According to a[ recent]() Navy press release, the trash and debris included “WWII artifacts, clothes, commercial fishing gear (nets, buoys, traps, hooks), boat accessories (wood, ladders, anchors), bottles, pieces of plastics, tires, barrels, treated wood, toys, and even a shopping cart.” ![trash 2]() *U.S. Navy sailors and civilians conducted an annual coastal cleanup on the remote beaches of San Nicolas Island (SNI), the most isolated of the California Channel Islands. (Ensign Drew Verbis/U.S. Navy)* Why did sailors and civilians spend an entire day picking up trash? Capt. Robert “Barr” Kimnach III, commanding officer of Naval Base Ventura County, said it’s part of a tradition at his organization. “NBVC has a long tradition of engagement programs that foster community service and protects the environment while also increasing public awareness and understanding of America's Navy,” he said in the press release. > [**Subscribe to Task & Purpose Today**]()**. Get the latest military news, entertainment, and gear in your inbox daily.** That tradition is particularly important at San Nicolas Island, whose beaches are home to a threatened small shorebird species called the[ Western Snowy Plover](). Northern elephant seals, a[ protected species]() under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, also visit the island’s beaches in the winter, the press release explained. Trash can threaten both species. “We have removed a large number of micro plastic sources,” Cmdr. Keith “Fudge” Buckingham, officer-in-charge of San Nicolas Island, said in the press release. “Things like fishing nets, clothes, and plastic bottles break down when exposed to water and sun, creating harmful micro plastics that are ingested by the local marine life.” ![navy seal]() *A seal watches Navy civilians and sailors clean up the remote beaches of San Nicolas Island, California, Oct. 5, 2022. (Ensign Drew Verbis/U.S. Navy)* All in all, picking up a ton of trash to help protect endangered or protected species may not be the worst way to spend a day. But the fact that so much waste ended up on such an isolated rock is troubling in its own right. “Look where we are,” Bill Hoyer, natural resource manager for Naval Base Ventura County, said in the press release. “If the Navy can collect an average of four thousand pounds of trash (2 beach cleanups annually) on California’s most remote island, it tells us there is too much trash in the ocean.” Hoyer is right: about 11 million metric tons of plastic waste enters the ocean every year,[ according]() to The Pew Charitable Trusts. Plastic does not[ decompose](), so all that junk either floats on the surface or sinks to the bottom, where it often winds up killing marine animals who eat it or get tangled up in it. That’s a problem that will take more than just a few disgruntled junior enlisted service members to clean up. Still, don’t give the commander any ideas. ## The latest on Task & Purpose - **Once again, the Navy has a** [**new uniform**]() **for sailors** - **Army investigation blames general for ‘**[**negative publicity**]()**’ after defending servicewomen online** - **Turns out that Russian recruiting video loved by critics of the ‘woke’ US military was** [**total BS**]() - **This armored brigade is now the** [**most modernized**]() **in the Army** - **Lawmakers want to replace ‘thank you for your service’ with something** [**even more meaningless**]() **Want to write for Task & Purpose?**[ **Click here**]()**. Or check out the latest stories on**[ **our homepage.**]() ## Author David Roza writes scripts about military news for the Task & Purpose YouTube channel, and he also writes articles about military pay, benefits, health care, child care, culture, and other personnel topics on a freelance basis. Roza previously covered the Air Force and Space Force for Task & Purpose from 2019 to 2023 and for Air & Space Forces Magazine from 2023 to 2025. In the course of that reporting, he has set off a ‘Hollywood explosion’ with Air Force bomb techs, turned the (unarmed) keys of a nuclear missile bunker, hovered over the Nevada desert on an Air Force rescue helicopter, and got the best sleep of his life on the floor of a C-17 over the central Pacific. Share tips and story ideas with David at [david.roza@teamrecurrent.io]()