Smartphone app to help cleanup SWFL waterways from Irma debris

It’s been four months since Hurricane Irma and Southwest Florida waters are still not back to normal. Dangerous hazards now exist for boaters, so a marine mapping company and NOAA are making a push to make it safer.

Hurricane Irma threw all sorts of debris into our waters and much of it is still there and hard to see.

Marine mapping company, Navionics, is making it easy for people to mark debris on an interactive app so NOAA scientists can come clear it out.

It’s simple. If you see something out of place you mark it.

“When you’re on the water after a Hurricane the sandbars and bottom depths can change, so your maps could be out of date,” Patrick Hurst of Navionics said, “You can go into the app, hit the edit map function, this is now a community edit.”

Nick Fischer, an experienced charter captain with Tarpon Fishing Charters, says this app is keeping him and his boat safe on the waters, “I usually know the paths I run every day, I’m used to it, after the hurricane I’m on high alert looking for any debris, water changes”

And that’s navionics number one priority. “To keep boaters safe”

 

Navionics is doing a big push from now until February 19 asking the boating community to mark anything unusual you see in the water, for more information how, check out their website. https://www.navionics.com/usa 

APP DOWNLOAD:The Navtronics boating app is available on Apple iOS | Android’s Google Play