Coastbuster

Beach keepers and coastal safety officers need your help!

You can help keep our West Coast clean and safe by reporting marine debris via Coastbuster. Use this app to report large, unusual and potentially hazardous marine debris–especially items that may have been swept into the sea by Japan’s devastating March 2011 tsunami. Simply photograph the debris you find, enter some descriptions, and upload to Ocean Networks Canada. We will forward your reports to authorities. We’ll also upload your photos to Flickr, where you can browse, share and comment on the full collection of marine debris snapshots.

The information and photos you share can also help scientists better understand how winds and currents carry marine debris across the oceans.

Your Contributions Remain Anonymous

Location Services on your handheld device must be turned on for Coastbuster in your settings before you take a photo. The GPS position is required so that all photos have a geo-location attached to them. The uploaded data contains no personal information from your device. All data we store are completely anonymous.

The app was conceived and developed by Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) and Simon Fraser University's Spatial Interface Research Lab (SFU/SIRL).

We appreciate your support and participation in the inventory of marine debris!