Volunteers dive in to retrieve Gasparilla beads from water

TAMPA (FOX 13) - One week after the Gasparilla Pirate Invasion, a group of dedicated volunteers gathered Saturday morning to clean up beads from the bay.

The Green Gasparilla organization started with two young brothers, Demetri & Ethan Sedita, who began using their fishing poles to get beads out of the bay several years ago.

Fast forward to 2018 and the Sedita boys now coordinate teams of volunteer divers and kayakers who clean up Seddon Channel, the route that Gasparilla boats take during the invasion. 

The purpose of the initiative is to get the beads out of the water before they cause any damage to marine life. The Sedita family learned that the paint used on the beads contains heavy metals and toxins that could end up in the water.