Seabin
The Port’s new Seabin — one of the first of its kind to be installed in Washington state — was attached to the new Central Marina Guest Dock 5 in 2019 to support collection of microplastics and debris from our waters. While the Seabin program is new to the U.S., it has been successfully implemented in marinas worldwide with 860 units installed since its launch in 2017.
The system, which essentially looks and acts as a garbage can floating at the top of the water, is affixed to the dock enabling it to move up and down with the tide as it collects and filters out floating debris 24/7. Its submersible water pump sucks water in from the surface, passes it through the catch bag inside of the device and pumps filtered water back into the Marina, leaving any floating litter, oil sheen and ocean plastics as small as two millimeters inside of the catch bag to be emptied and properly disposed of. The device can accumulate up to 10 pounds of garbage before it needs to be emptied.
The Port has partnered with Everett Community College’s Ocean Research College Academy (ORCA), as well as the college environmental club, to support the program, including operation of the unit and data gathering. To date, students have been working with the Port to collect the materials that accumulate within the Seabin, cataloging and sampling the collected materials, studying the results, and ultimately will be reporting their findings.
