Looking at the coastal environment--and the junk that pollutes it.

Thousands of South Bay residents revel in beach-going. They sun, swim, play volleyball, walk, jog or poke around tide pools. But how many are willing to spend a few hours cleaning those sandy and rocky places they love to visit?

That question will be answered Saturday morning, when volunteers will be asked to bring gloves and pitch in to remove debris from the tide pools of San Pedro to the sands of Manhattan Beach.

Organizers of the various cleanups say they don’t know how many people will show up, but they’re encouraged by sign-ups by corporate employees and members of service and garden clubs, senior citizens groups, and the Boy Scouts.

“Last year, there were approximately 60 volunteers that came out, and we hope that increases this year,” said Carol Belser, a recreation employee in Hermosa Beach.

Some beaches will have contests or displays to add a little fun to the work of filling bags with such debris as cans, plastic bags, fragments of fishing nets, and cast-off appliance and vehicle parts.

However, those boosting the cleanup effort are mostly counting on the devotion of people who don’t like their beaches to look like watery dumps. Mike Schaadt, exhibits director at the Cabrillo Marine Museum in San Pedro, said litterers provoke “a certain amount of disgust.”

But, he said, “there are people down there to care, to take a modicum of pride that can make a difference. The enjoyment is seeing how much better a place can look.”

The Saturday cleanup marks the nationwide Coastweeks program, which was organized by marine-related scientific and environmental organizations, and the California Coastal Commission’s Adopt-A-Beach Day.

Belser said that in addition to being a cleanup, the day aims to make people aware of beaches and the importance of caring for them. “They’re our natural resource,” she said. “People clean the beach, give something back to it and learn something about it.”

* The Cabrillo museum at 3720 Stephen White Drive, San Pedro, will coordinate the cleanup of the Point Fermin Refuge, which stretches along the coast south of the museum. Volunteers will gather at 10 a.m. for two hours of trash-gathering.

Steve Vogel, the museum’s educational curator, said the tide pools and rocky beach within the refuge become repositories for debris thrown from yachts and commercial ships--down to the small resin beads used to slide cargo containers aboard ships. The cliffs above the beach invite people to toss over surprising trash.

“People are at the end of the world as far as they’re concerned,” he said. “We’re getting bottles, street signs, and real estate signs and flags.”

During last year’s cleanup, a mural depicting tide-pool life was painted on the remnants of a military bunker. It has been all but obliterated by graffiti, and people will be invited to help repaint it during the cleanup.

Competitive spirits will be aroused at noon with a contest to select what Vogel calls “five of the funkiest garbage items discovered.” Judging by last year’s collection--which netted a refrigerator compressor and part of a street barricade that still had a light attached--Vogel said the contest should be lively.

The day ends with the showing of films on beaches and tide pools at the museum.

* The Los Angeles chapter of the American Cetacean Society is organizing the cleanup of San Pedro’s Royal Palms Beach, located at Western Avenue and Paseo del Mar. Volunteers will meet at 8 a.m. at the bottom of the road down to the rocky beach. The cleanup will last until noon.

Dan Zembrano, a Cal State Long Beach marine lab technician who is heading the event, said the first cleanup last year netted everything from clothing to drinking straws. “How much we clean depends on how many show up,” he said.

* Torrance Beach, located south of Riviera Village in Redondo Beach, will be cleaned between 9 a.m. and noon. Volunteers will meet at the parking lot.

* In Redondo Beach, volunteers will meet at the Redondo Pier at 9 a.m. The cleanup will last until noon.

* Hermosa Beach holds its cleanup from 8 a.m. to noon, with volunteers gathering at the city pier. Belser said more than 1,200 pounds of trash was collected on the beach last year, much of it recyclable cans and plastics.

Recyclable items found this year will be taken to Hermosa Valley School, which is having a recycling drive Saturday.

During the cleanup, Los Angeles County lifeguards and the Cabrillo museum will have displays and provide information. Children will be entertained with a scavenger hunt.

* In Manhattan Beach, the cleanup--from 9 a.m. to noon--begins at the Manhattan Beach Pier.

One aim of this year’s beach cleanup is to identify the type of trash being dumped. Vogel said this will help the Center for Marine Conservation, which works to protect the ocean, to pinpoint where marine debris is coming from and take steps to stop it.

Vogel said the object is to develop educational material aimed at “the people who are responsible” for the trash.

“The whole idea is to focus peoples’ attention on the coastal environment,” he said.