At age 16, free diver Alex Weber found an astounding number of golf balls in the ocean near her home in California. Five golf courses – two near the ocean and three along the Carmel River- were the source. Golf balls degrade in water releasing toxic chemicals and microplastic harmful to marine life. Alex has brought over 50,000 golf balls up from the ocean.
“She and her father would haul hundreds of pounds of them up, and then of course more golfers would hit more into the ocean.” NPR (source below)
The following video is from Alex’s website: https://www.theplasticpick-up.org/
With help from Matt Savoca and Stanford University, Alex published an article about the golf ball pollution in the journal, Marine Pollution Bulletin. Now 18, Alex plans to study marine science at a university. She is still collecting golf balls.
You can read more of Alex’s story in this article from NPR
Here’s a video from Alex and Jack’s gofundme page.
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January 25, 2019 at 11:53 am
Wow. A big thank you to Alex and her father for bringing this practice to our attention. It would be interesting to know if the golfers have since addressed this problem.
January 25, 2019 at 1:43 pm
That’s how I felt reading about Alex and her family. I also wondered about the golfers. You’d think they could put up some sort of fencing to keep more balls on the course.
January 25, 2019 at 1:29 pm
hurray for good
golf ball news, JoAnna 🙂
January 25, 2019 at 1:44 pm
🙂 Yes! It’s so good to see Alex’s work.
January 25, 2019 at 2:09 pm
Hi, great stories!!!!!! Hope you are well and not to overwhelmed.
January 25, 2019 at 5:16 pm
Thank you so much! I am doing well and making progress without stressing.
January 26, 2019 at 3:35 pm
Good to hear!
January 25, 2019 at 2:53 pm
“50,000 golf balls” ? Yikes! good job Alex. Now, how about some fences or nets.
January 25, 2019 at 6:09 pm
Exactly!
January 25, 2019 at 7:09 pm
Thanks, JoAnna, for making us aware of the golf ball pollution in the ocean. I had no idea this was happening and it makes me wonder how many other lakes and rivers are collecting golf balls at their bottom. I admire Alex for passionately attending to the planet in helping to rid the ocean of golf balls and pursuing a career in marine science.
January 25, 2019 at 9:31 pm
I didn’t know either til I read about Alex. She and people like her give me hope in the future.
January 25, 2019 at 10:50 pm
50000 gold balls. Dd not know about this pollution. More power to Alex!
January 26, 2019 at 12:33 pm
I didn’t know about it either. YES to Alex!
January 26, 2019 at 5:50 am
Quite amazing effort – clearly much needed. Could the golf clubs be prevailed upon to emulate them, I wonder?
January 26, 2019 at 12:52 pm
That is an excellent idea. I imagine she has talked to them about it. Wouldn’t be surprised if some golfters were trying.
January 26, 2019 at 6:15 am
thank you for this beautiful and sad post. Beautiful in the sense of what two dedicated people can achieve. Beautifully filmed and making us frightingly aware. I had no idea.
There is so much destroying our oceans, one would hope the golf clubs might put up some netting
to stop the balls.
Thanks for highlighting this JoAnna, I will forward to some people.
Bless.
Miriam
January 26, 2019 at 12:53 pm
Thank you, Miriam. I know golf balls are not the biggest polluting material, but they contribute and are so preventable. I was very impressed by Alex and her work.
January 26, 2019 at 10:21 am
The video is mindblowing JoAnna – and KUDOS to Alex and her father for picking them up from the sea bed floor. I hope the golfers and the makers of the balls are more aware of this. Thank you ..
January 26, 2019 at 4:55 pm
I hope the golfers and ball makers are too. I’m sure there are ways to reduce the pollution at the source. Thanks for appreciating the story.
January 26, 2019 at 11:47 am
AMAZING. What an herculean effort for such a great purpose. Thanks for sharing!
January 26, 2019 at 6:31 pm
Herculean is a good word for this young woman’s efforts. It’s a pleasure to share. Thanks for appreciating!
January 27, 2019 at 3:00 pm
Inspiring! Thanks for the post 🙂
January 27, 2019 at 8:29 pm
My pleasure! I’m glad you were inspired too!
January 27, 2019 at 7:08 pm
Had no idea about this, WOW! Great post, thanks so much for sharing this and for being part of #WATWB!😊
January 27, 2019 at 8:37 pm
I didn’t know until recently. I’m always thankful to be part of #WATWB. 🙂
February 3, 2019 at 2:23 am
50,000 golf balls. That’s amazing work. Kudos to Alex and her father for thinking about the golf ball pollution in the ocean. More power to them!! And here’s hoping that the golf course authorities take measures to stop the balls from going in the ocean too!
February 3, 2019 at 7:44 pm
It is amazing work. I add my hopes to yours that the source of this pollution wakes up with wisdom and compassion. Thanks for reading and caring!
February 18, 2019 at 10:17 am
Pollution with golf balls! This is too much. Kudos to Alex.
February 18, 2019 at 8:23 pm
I know. It was a surprise to me. Alex has been both observant and determined to make things better.