ANGARI Foundation Expands Lagoon Drift to Boca Raton

West Palm Beach, Fla. (May 1, 2026) – Calling all citizen scientists! On Friday, May 1 at 12 p.m., ANGARI Foundation is conducting its 15th experiment in its Lake Worth Lagoon Drift Card Study that tracks water movement, marine debris and pollutants in the Lake Worth Lagoon, the Intracoastal Waterway and Palm Beach County waters. Students, partners and the public are assisting with the release of small, bright, eco-friendly purple wooden drift cards into the water at eight different sites, including a new location in Boca Raton.

The new deployment site in Boca Raton is located at Silver Palm Park on Palmetto Park Drive. Somerset Academy Boca has adopted the new site and will be releasing drift cards there for all future studies.

“It was a natural step to extend south into Boca Raton, especially with strong interest from Somerset Academy Boca and their eagerness to participate in the drift card study,” said Laura Jessop, Community Outreach Programs and Education Manager with ANGARI Foundation. “This location offers a valuable opportunity to gather additional, meaningful data on marine debris movement, given its proximity to an inlet and a heavily trafficked waterway.”

After the release, members of the community are encouraged to take to shorelines in the region to find and report the drift cards that may be floating or washed ashore. The cards are 4-by-6-inches, bright purple, and have been decorated by community members and students.

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, while also tracking 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.

This experiment is supported by the Great Charity Challenge. Partners for the upcoming Lake Worth Lagoon Drift Card Study experiment include Belvedere Elementary School, ESPN West Palm, Flotilla Club, Friends of Manatee Lagoon, Friends of Palm Beach, Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, Independence Middle School’s SciQuest Academy, Manatee Lagoon, Palm Beach Day Academy, Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce, Palm Springs Community Middle School, Somerset Academy Boca, The Benjamin School, and U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 5-4. Staff, members, and students from these organizations and schools are assisting with the decoration and/or deployment of drift cards.

If a drift card is found, it is crucial to report the specific location, date, and time found, and 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.

For more information on the Lake Worth Lagoon Drift Card Study, visit angari.org/lagoondrift.

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About ANGARI Foundation
ANGARI Foundation is a 501(c)(3) private operating foundation established in 2016 and headquartered in West Palm Beach, Fla. The Foundation is dedicated to creating a global community that is interested, knowledgeable, and invested in marine and environmental sciences by directly supporting research initiatives that foster a greater trust and dialogue between scientists and the public. ANGARI Foundation uses innovative technology, film, and other media to raise awareness and strengthen science education. Many of the Foundation’s primary initiatives involve R/V ANGARI, a 65-foot vessel that serves as an exceptional research and education platform.

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