JULY 10, 2013 -- The NOAA Marine Debris Program, a division of the Office of Response and Restoration, has launched the Marine Debris Clearinghouse, a new online tool for tracking and researching marine debris projects and resources. Currently, this database allows users to browse or search records of past, current, and future projects which are funded by the Marine Debris Program and focus on marine debris removal, research, and outreach. One means for discovering this information is its easy-to-use interactive Google map view. Courtney Arthur introduces the Marine Debris Clearinghouse on the Marine Debris Blog, where she shares more about plans to expand it with an archive of marine debris studies, reports, and action plans:

The program expects to expand this database to include information from federal partners and the broader marine debris community. In the coming months, the site will grow to include a library of documents, including best practices, regional action plans, technical documents, and papers that reflect the state of knowledge of a given topic area within marine debris study.

She also gives instructions on where to direct feedback about this exciting new resource for combating the problem of trash in our ocean. It's available at clearinghouse.marinedebris.noaa.gov. Dive in and let us know what you think.