“While Mother Nature sent us some fickle weather, there was nothing fickle about the thousands of volunteers who turned out to give the Jersey Shore beaches a nice, clean sweep — with fascinating finds”

That’s what Clean Ocean Action (COA) Executive Director Cindy Zipf had to say about the extraordinary 37th Annual Spring Beach Sweeps turnout on Saturday.

Zipf, a former longtime Rumson resident and Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School graduate, spearheaded Clean Ocean Action decades ago and has been known as an environmental force to triumph over any clean ocean challenge.

This Beach Sweeps brought more than 5,000 volunteers to 75 beach sites along the Jersey coast from Bergen to Cape May counties.

Guided by dedicated beach captains at each site, volunteers of all ages spent the morning collecting and tabulating debris removed from shorelines, a release from COA said.

“By doing so, volunteers make beaches safer for marine life and more enjoyable for people, while also contributing the all-important data,” the release added. “The data from the Beach Sweeps turns a one-day event into a legacy of information to improve public awareness, change wasteful habits, enforce litter laws and improve policies to reduce sources of marine debris.”

The organization keeps a log of finds from the Sweeps. Dirty Dozen is one list, which encapsulates the worst and dirtiest of the finds. One list is dubbed Roster of the Ridiculous. It delineates the craziest of finds, like dentures, in each Sweep. Click here to find out what’s new on the Roster.