TAMPA, FL — It's been christened the "Litter Skimmer," and Tampa residents can expect to see this strange-looking vessel prowling the river and bay eight hours a day four days a week, picking up floating trash using a system that resembles a conveyor belt.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, city leaders and community partners were on hand at Marjorie Park Marina, 97 Columbia Drive, Tampa, Saturday to unveil Tampa's trash boat that will patrol the Hillsborough River, Davis Islands and the bay areas along Tampa's 126 miles of shoreline in search of litter.

The city unveiled the boat Saturday during the launch of the city's sweeping new anti-litter campaign, "Keep It Clean, Tampa."

The 50-foot boat will be operated by the Solid Waste Department. The moving belts on the boat are able to pick up a variety of debris floating on the water, including single-use plastics that have been shown to be harmful to marine life.

Similar skimmers, capable of removing more than 400 tons of floating debris and trash each year, have been deployed around the country for decades.

Milwaukee dubbed its vessel "Lynyrd Skymmr." It's been cleaning the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers since 2012.

Washington, D.C., has used skimmers for years to clean the Potomac River. In 2017, it added a new pair of skimmers to its fleet named Flotsam and Jetsam to clean the Anacostia River.

Baltimore, Maryland, was the first city to use a skimmer. The city purchased its first simmer in 1988 to clean the Chesapeake Bay. The city named it "Retriever," but its longtime operator, Joe Finnerty, simply calls it "the Trash Boat," according to the Baltimore Sun. In the years he's been operating the boat, he's seen it pick up everything from human body parts to a live dog. That dog, named Lucky, now lives with Finnerty.

The city of Tampa's "Keep it Clean, Tampa" campaign kicked off Saturday, mobilizing volunteers for a citywide cleanup at Cheney, Borrell, Gadsen and Grant parks.

The cleanup also deployed an army of kayakers to pick up trash on the Hillsborough River. In short order, the kayakers deposited dozens of trash bags filled with debris in city boats circulating the river during the cleanup.

Unfortunately, said Whit Remer, the city of Tampa's sustainability and resiliency officer, the four hours of hard work by the kayakers will be undone within days due to the amount of trash that routinely makes it way into Tampa's water systems from heavy rains, stormwater runoff and bad human habits.

That's the reason for the "Litter Skimmer," he said. The boat will keep the amount of trash entering waterways in check while the city launches the next phase of its campaign: education.

"It's not just about picking up trash; it's about preventing it from getting there in the first place," Remer said.

He said the next step in the "Keep It Clean, Tampa" campaign will be using a $500,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to study trash "hot spots" across the city to find ways to reduce debris entering the Hillsborough River and other waterways.

"And part of that grant will help fund targeted education programs in those neighborhoods or in those areas that we're seeing a lot of this reoccurring trash, so we want to spread the word to make sure that everyone gets involved in keeping our community clean."

"This is a multi-faceted and ongoing community initiative that should become part of the mindset of every Tampa resident: To be part of the solution and not part of the pollution," Castor said. "Nothing bugs me more than litter, and Tampa is too great a city to be trashed."

Tampa already dedicates significant resources to help keeping our community clean, she said.

Last year, the city of Tampa's Code Enforcement teams cleaned more than 3,200 tons of debris.

Additionally, the Tampa Downtown Partnership's Clean Team collected 281 tons of litter, pressure washed 130 blocks and removed graffiti on 259 buildings, walls and overpasses in 2021.

"Litter and trash not only threaten our wildlife and ecosystems, but they affect public safety, mental health and everybody's quality of life," Remer said. "Tampa deserves better, and we are going to do what we can to correct those problems."

Al Antolik, whose life revolves around ridding Tampa Bay of trash as president of Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, said he welcomes the city's partnership.

"We were really excited when we were asked to partner with the city of Tampa for their 'Keep it Clean' initiative," he said. "At Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, we've learned a few things about partnerships. Last year, our partnerships netted 360,000 tons of waste through our trash-free waters initiative, community cleanups, beautification programs and our adopt-a-road partnerships."

The city, in cooperation with nonprofit and neighborhood groups, plans to keep up the momentum by hosting regular cleanups.

To sign up to volunteer for an upcoming cleanup or suggest a location for a community cleanup, click here.

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