PHILIPSBURG:--- The Sint Maarten Nature Foundation teamed up with Cruise Passengers from Princess Cruise Lines, Fathom Travel and Carib Resorts in cleaning garbage and hurricane debris from Guana Bay Beach, Sint Maarten’s most critical turtle nesting beach and one of the beaches hardest hit by Hurricane Irma. Some 100 passengers assisted the Nature Foundation in cleaning various debris, plastic, fishing tackle and glass for three hours on Wednesday morning. The activity was a part of the Fathom and Princess Cruises Cruise for the Caribbean and is the first time passengers from a cruise ship to Sint Maarten have participated in an impactful environmental activity; “We were so pleased and honored to have guests from a cruise ship take time out of their holiday to assist Sint Maarten both with an ecological activity and helping us rebuild Sint Maarten after the devastating effects of Hurricane Irma. We are so grateful to the whole team and the positive attitude everyone showed while ridding the beach of plastic. It is excellent to see this move towards a sustainable tourism for Sint Maarten post-Hurricane Irma,” read a Nature Foundation statement.
Guana Bay is listed as the index beach for all three species of Sea Turtle that nest on Sint Maarten. During the cleanup activity, some three tons of trash were collected and removed from the beach. The group also made a generous donation towards the Nature Foundation’s cleanup activities post-hurricane Irma. Cleanup supplies were provided by well-known Environmental NGO 4Ocean who provided gloves, re-usable trash bags and cleaning tools.
