TAMPA, Fla. — With the Bay area's parade season coming up, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor is reminding Gasparilla pirates and celebrators to keep beads out of the Bay. 

On Thursday, the mayor launched #BeadFreeBay, an anti-littering awareness campaign to remind the public that throwing beads and other litter in the water is prohibited. 

Each year, countless beads and other non-biodegradable debris ends up in the city’s waterways. Gasparilla routinely draws 300,000 people to the parade and the entire season draws more than a million visitors to the area.

City officials said beads and other non-biodegradable items are incredibly harmful to our environment and pose threats to marine wildlife. The goal of the Bead-Free Bay campaign is to minimize the environmental impact on Bay area waterways. 

The mayor is conducting the initiative in conjunction with The Florida Aquarium, Yacht Starship, Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla pirates, Krewe of Sant’ Yago, Rough Riders, Green Gasparilla, and more.

“Environmental sustainability is a core tenant of my administration's focus,” Castor said.  “And while we all love a good parade, the beads thrown during the parade have no place harming our delicate ecosystem. Together, we will transform Tampa’s tomorrow by keeping our marine wildlife safe and our environment clean by keeping beads out of the water this and every event season moving forward.”