On Wednesday, July 27, a group of dedicated Sharks fans joined mascot S.J. Sharkie and Sharks front office staff to clean up Cowell Beach in Santa Cruz.

The partnership between the San Jose Sharks and Save Our Shores, a marine conservation non-profit organization based out of Santa Cruz, was made possible through the organization's Adopt-A-Beach program. As a result, for the past three years the Sharks have helped popular Cowell Beach maintain its beauty for future visitors by collecting the debris left behind by beach goers.

After a brief presentation from Save Our Shores staff, who highlighted the extensive damage the trash causes to the water quality and local marine life, Sharks fans set out to scour the beach for litter. Just two hours later, they had collected over 40 pounds of trash and 10 lbs of recyclable materials. The items volunteers found on the beach included hundreds of pieces of plastic and paper, bandages, over 800 cigarette butts and even a used syringe.

Click here to see more photos from the event.

This was just the first of 3 beach cleanups the Sharks are planning to hold at Cowell Beach this summer. The next beach cleanup will be on July 31, 2012. Because of limited resources, this event is open to the first 100 Sharks fans who sign up. Each registered participant will be entered into a raffle to win Sharks memorabilia.

MORE ABOUT SAVE OUR SHORES
Save Our Shores is the Central Coast leader in caring for the marine environment through ocean awareness, advocacy and citizen action. Want to get involved? Save Our Shores will be hosting the July 5th Star Spangled Banner Cleanup on Thursday, July 5 from 8:00 – 10:00 AM at Cowell/Main Beach, Moran Lake Beach, Seabright Beach, Twin Lakes Beach and Seacliff and Rio Del Mar Beaches. There will be a check-in table at each of these locations where volunteers can drop-in and gather cleanup supplies. For questions please contact Andrew at andrew@saveourshores.org or visit www.saveourshores.org.