Public Needed To Help Find Drift Cards Released Into The Lake Worth And Indian River Lagoons

Yellow Lagoon Drift card

Help scientists collect data on the movement of water pollutants off the coast of Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast.

      Be on the lookout! ANGARI (Anne-jar-ee) Foundation is asking for the public’s help to find and report hundreds of purple, white, yellow, and unpainted wooden drift cards floating in the Lake Worth Lagoon and the Indian River Lagoon. The drift cards are part of ANGARI’s 15th Lake Worth Lagoon Drift Card Study that tracks water movement and pollutants in Florida’s coastal waterways.

      So far, 21 percent of cards have been recovered and reported since they were deployed into the Lake Worth Lagoon and surrounding waterways on Friday, May 1. There are still more out there to find and report. The drift cards are eco-friendly, 4-by-6-inches, and have been decorated by students, community members, and volunteers. They begin to break down after two to three weeks in the water.

      • In Palm Beach County, 320 bright purple drift cards were deployed at eight different sites: Burt Reynolds Park in Jupiter, North Palm Beach Intracoastal Waterway, C-17 Canal in North Palm Beach, Manatee Lagoon in Riviera Beach, West Palm Beach Public Docks in downtown West Palm Beach, C-51 Canal south of downtown West Palm Beach, C-16 Canal in Boynton Beach, and Silver Palms Park in Boca Raton.

      • On the Treasure Coast, 240 bright yellow, white, and unpainted drift cards were deployed at six different sites: Cocoa Beach Junior/Senior High School in Cocoa Beach, Barber Bridge in Vero Beach, South Bridge in Fort Pierce, Indian River Drive in Fort Pierce, Jensen Beach Causeway Park in Jensen Beach, and Twin Rivers Park in Port Salerno.

      The public is encouraged to take to shorelines in the regions to find and report the drift cards that may be floating or washed ashore. If a drift card is found, follow the instructions on the card. It is crucial to report the specific location, date, and time found. Take a photo of both sides of the card and email it to [email protected]. Please keep the drift card and do not throw the card back into the water.

      MORE: During prior experiments, drift cards have been reported as far north as New Smyrna Beach, and as far south as the Hillsboro Inlet. Historically, drift card recovery rates for the study have been high. ANGARI Foundation and its partners use this project as a tool to engage the community in discussions about human environmental impacts such as plastic pollution and marine debris. It also tracks water and potential pollution movement in local waterways.

      ANGARI maintains a digital ArcGIS interactive dashboard and map for the public to access data from all previous drift card experiments from 2017 to 2025. Users can explore and analyze individual data points, learn about each specific drift card report, and examine results from a particular drift card deployment site or experiment. They can also view daily environmental observations from each deployment day, and informative charts and graphs. The dashboard can be accessed through ANGARI’s website at angari.org/lagoondrift-data/.

      For more information, visit angari.org.