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Green Boating: Eco-Friendly Tips to Keep Sarasota’s Waterways Clean

Collage showing plastic pollution's impact on sea turtles and marine life

We think boating is certainly the best way to spend time on the water, but we also care about the environment just as much as we do a fun day of boating. When boaters make poor decisions or don’t take the proper preventative measures, many unintentional and unexpected consequences can affect our famous Southwest Florida environment.

Whether you’re keeping it easy (hello, staycation!) or visiting from afar, here are some quick, practical ways to keep our waterways clean on your boat day.

Be Seagrass Safe

Trimming your motor up in shallow waters may be one of the easiest ways to prevent further damage to our ecosystem. When propellers slash into seagrass beds, water clarity drops and the fish lose their nursery. About 85% of the species targeted by Florida’s commercial and recreational fisheries depend on seagrass for part of their lives, according to UF/IFAS Florida Sea Grant. When they lose their place to hide from predators and raise their young, the whole population feels it. This then puts a huge dent in commercial and recreational fishing and nature/wildlife tourism, one of the largest industries in the state.

Prop scars also take a long time to heal. Some can take more than ten years to grow back. So if you run in skinny water, trim up, slow down, and stick to the marked channels. If you do run aground, don’t power your way off: shut the engine off, trim up, and push off or wait for the tide.

Easy Wins

Reducing your wake print is luckily not a difficult task. A few easy ways to keep our bay and beaches beautiful for generations to come:

  • Bag it up: Bring a spare bag for food wrappers, empty soda cans, or any other waste made while lapping up the rays and waves. Better yet, bring a pair of gloves and dive into a DIY beach cleanup!
  • Opt for “reef-friendly” sunscreen: look for sunscreens that have zinc oxide and titanium dioxide as the active ingredients. These mineral sunscreens are generally considered gentler on reefs than ones made with oxybenzone, which Hawaii has banned over concerns about coral.
  • Go reusable: Before heading out, pack a filled and chilled reusable water bottle to stay hydrated all day long. If you’re packing a beach picnic, bring some reusable utensils too. These small actions will reduce the amount of plastics that may sadly end up in our beautiful ocean.

Oil and Fuel

There’s no getting around the fact that boats require oil and fuel to operate. A little care keeps them out of the water.

  • Gas up slowly. This prevents fuel spillage, especially in choppy waves. Resist the urge to “top it off.” Since gas expands as it gets warm, filling it all the way to the top can result in leaking.
  • Don’t use dish soap to clean up an oil leak in the water. It causes the oil to break up into very small particles (essentially creating many mini oil spills). Great for greasy dishes, terrible for the bay. If you see a sheen or a spill, tell us, or report it to the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802.

Trash

Trash left behind on a sandy beach

Whatever comes on the boat goes home with the boat.

  • If you smoke, please do not toss those butts overboard. It’s a mistaken idea that cigarette butts are made of paper. Their filters are actually a type of plastic, and they stick around for years.
  • Keep trash on board until reaching the shore. Then dispose of properly in waste containers or recycling bins.

Fishing, Swimming and Wildlife

Tangled fishing line, a hazard to wildlife

There are a wide variety of green practices you can follow when you are out fishing, snorkeling or swimming.

  • Never touch coral while diving or snorkeling. It harms the coral and, in many places, it is illegal.
  • Near a reef, tie up to a mooring buoy where there is one instead of dropping anchor.
  • Use monofilament receptacles to dispose of fishing line.
  • If you use live bait for fishing, use bait that’s native to the area. This prevents the introduction of invasive species to the environment. Washing your boat and gear after a fishing trip or boating excursion is another way to prevent this.
  • Give shorelines, mangroves and nesting birds plenty of room, and keep your wake down near shore.
  • Look, don’t touch: it is illegal to feed or harass wild dolphins and manatees. Enjoy them from a respectful distance.
  • Pay attention to where you’re docking. While stopping at secluded coves is a fun experience, be careful not to disturb native plants, grasses and animals.

Products to Bring Along

A few eco-friendly swaps worth packing:

  • Reusable straws – such as a collapsible travel straw – are a great alternative to plastic straws, which just break down into tiny pieces (known as micro-plastics) in the ocean. They then get ingested by turtles, birds and other marine creatures.
  • Everything tastes better on a boat (we checked). And sandwich bags are a must for boat-bound picnics. Skip those skimpy plastic ones and go with reusable sandwich bags. Made out of food-safe polyester and durable waterproof liners, they’re easy to wash after holding snacks, fruit or sandwiches.

Doing your part to help Florida’s waterways means we will be able to keep boating beautiful for generations to come.

Keep reading:

The Science of Why Your Brain Needs a Florida Boat Day

The boat for this: our 22-foot pontoon seats up to 13 and is made for slow, easy days on the bay. Book online or call (941) 404-7900.

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