Nancy Fahey's final report for 2011

Hey Ginger,

Here is the latest on WB trash:

Thursday, 08/08:  1.5 bags of random trash

Friday, 08/09:  1/2 bag of trash which consisted mostly of 6 Bud Light cans all in a neat little pile near a dune on the south end.

Saturday, 08/10:  1/2 bag random trash

Sunday, 08/11: Four bags of trash

David went for me on Monday, and he usually does not pick up trash, or at least he didn't mention any.

Tuesday, 08/13: Four bags of trash including 2 wads of fishing line, one balloon, one full can of beer and one screwdriver.  Guess David will no longer have an excuse to get out of Honey-Do's!  :)

Wednesday,  08/14:  1 bag of random trash

Thursday, 08/15:  2 bags of random trash

Tha, tha, tha, that's all folks! 

Nancy Fahey reporting from the ATV!!

Hey Ginger,

Latest trash report from the beach:

Monday: 2 grocery store size bags collected (I use a reusable Wing's bag that I picked up off the beach this spring, then break down the amount collected into estimated # of grocery store size bags).  This included FIVE balloons and string on Monday!

Tuesday:  2 bags of trash, including TWO balloons and five empty glass Corona bottles off the south end.  Guess the sixth bottle was saved to enjoy on the way home.

Wednesday:  2 grocery store size bags of trash.

Most of the heavy duty plastic sheeting has been either washed away by the tide or is in the wrack line.  :(  I pick of some of this litter each morning.

See you soon,

Nancy

Cathy Campau and her family help clean WB!

Dear Ginger,
      I walked the beach on Aug. 28.  I picked up 2 bags and a tire.  I went with my family and we did another 2 bags.  Can you add those.

Cathy

Danielle Laborde adds 8 bags of trash to our numbers

New WBSTP volunteer, Danielle Laborde reported that she has been walking the beach for the past couple of months picking up 1 -2 bags of trash per week.  I have added Danielle's contributions to our numbers distributing one bags of trash per week for 8 weeks.  (I counted it as 8 bags b/c I'm modest sometimes  :-) ). 


Thank you Danielle.

Records Broken by Danielle--watch the video!!!

Hey Hey!  It's official... I'm going to be caught up with contributing to Keep It Clean!  I'm sure I'll be out a few more times before Sept. 15, so I'll be sure to send those to you as well :)


So far in September, we've been out on three different occasions.


On Sept. 2, we went to Access 36.  We mainly focused on the wrack line (the bits of styrofoam were HORRIBLE!!), but I made a point to walk over to Crystal Pier to check for straws from the Oceanic dining area.  I was super happy to not find any straws that had appeared to have blown off the pier!!  (Yes, we found straws... but they were away from the pier and mostly in the wrack line.)


Our Daily Ocean: Day 94 = 1 bag of litter


244 cigarette butts
23 caps
10 straws
3 plastic bottles
1 spoon


Then on Sept. 3, we went to Access 17 with Bonnie.  Our old record for the amount of cigarette butts we picked up was done last year at Access 20... the record used to be 1,833.  Friday night, Bonnie, my daughter and I picked up 2,026 cigarette butts!!!  (we ended up going over our 20 minute time frame simply because we started an area and wanted to finish it.... but really we didn't even come CLOSE to finishing.)  The wrack line was so completely disgusting... cigarette butts, straws, caps... I didn't think a picture could explain it.... so I took a short video:  http://youtu.be/WhFY2U6MHZs


Oh, right... this record breaking clean up has also pushed the cigarette butt tally past the 30k mark!!!  (who would have ever guessed?!?  Over 30k cigarette butts are sitting in my garage!)


Our Daily Ocean: Day 95 = 2.5 bags of litter


2,026 cigarette butts
44 caps
43 straws
6 plastic bottles
2 aluminum cans


AND... finally!  My husband and oldest son had been in Alaska for 11 days and on Labor Day (Monday, Sept. 5) they were finally able to make it out to the beach to do a clean up!  My husband was bummed to have missed out on the record breaking night... so we headed back to Access 17.  We got to the beach very close to sunset, so it got dark pretty fast!  But that doesn't mean that we didn't find a lot of litter!!!  We picked up nearly 7 lbs of trash!!!  This clean up marked another kind of record:  We have officially picked up over 200 lbs of litter off of WB (and that doesn't include the weight of large items such as boogie boards and chairs!!)


Our Daily Ocean: Day 96 = 5 bags of litter

1,879 cigarette butts
22 caps/lids
20 straws
9 toys
5 plastic bottles
4 aluminum cans










Danielle


"It Starts With Me" a Brita FilterForGood Film Project


www.itstartswithme-danielle.blogspot.com

Danielle Richardet--Post Hurricane Irene clean-ups

Hey!  Me again!  


On the Saturday that Hurricane Irene blew on out of Wrightsville Beach, my two youngest children and I along with friends went to the beach to hopefully find some treasures from the ocean.  We DID!!  ...but we also found a lot of things that Irene helped the ocean purge.  Most noticeable were things that I just couldn't get... TIRES!  What we were able to remove from the beach were a lot things mostly distributed through the wrack line.  As we've done an additional 5 clean ups since the hurricane... the wrack line is proving to be a collection of all things plastic... cigarette butts, straws, caps and lots and lots of styrofoam that is nearly impossible to pick up.  Here's the run down from our August post Irene clean ups.  


Add an additional 12 bags to the tally.


Day 91: August 27, 2011 post Hurricane Irene at Access 41 


8 lbs 11 oz of litter
344 cigarette butts
92 plastic caps
7 plastic/styrofoam cups
11 straws
4 aluminum cans
4 plastic bottles
10 toys    


Day 92: August 28, 2011 at Access 42


12.7 oz of litter
270 cigarette butts
2 plastic bottles
25 plastic caps
6 straws


Day 93: August 29, 2011 at Access 43


3 lbs 12.1 oz of litter
182 cigarette butts
115 caps
7 straws
4 aluminum cans
9 toys
2 balloons
2 plastic spoons
1 UNOPENED Corona (beer)!!! (it appears to be old!)


Attached is the photo from Day 93 :)  Which happens to have been the day of the pizza party!!  I had such a great time...getting to meet people who are helping keep WB clean was the best!  Thank you so much for the invitation and the yummy pizza!!!! :)

Danielle


"It Starts With Me" a Brita FilterForGood Film Project


www.itstartswithme-danielle.blogspot.com

Danielle Richardet 8/7- 8/25

Hi Ginger!

It's been forever since I last sent you an update of our clean ups!  In fact, looking at the blog the last time I sent in my numbers was on our 83rd day (August 4) and we're now on #96!!!  Yikes... sorrry!  So here's the basic summary for our pre-Irene August clean ups... obviously, thoughts and such are on my blog and photos are on Facebook.
Photos: August 2011: 20 minute beach clean ups

For these days, 84-90... add 11 grocery sized bags to the tally.

Day 84: August 7, 2011 @ Access 38

10.4 oz of litter
242 cigarette butts
6 straws
4 baggies
5 plastic caps

Day 85: August 9, 2011 at Access 43

5 lbs .9 oz of litter

378 cigarette butts
17 food wrappers
1 plastic bag
2 fishing lines
4 sandwich/ziplock bags
2 plastic bottles
2 plastic cups
3 shoes
25 caps/lids
19 straws
9 toys
5 shotgun shells

Day 86: August 11, 2011 at access 36

1 lb 12.7 oz of litter
545 cigarette butts
60 straws (53 from Oceanic)
15 plastic caps
4 toys
2 balloons
2 condoms
fishing line

Day 87: August 17, 2011 at Access 16

1 lb 11.4 oz of litter
370 cigarette butts
28 straws
21 caps
4 baggies
4 plastic bottles

Day 88: August 20, 2011 at Access 25

2 lbs 6.5oz of litter
280 cigarette butts
5 straws
11 juice box straw wrappers
6 plastic caps
1 plastic waterbottle

Day 89: August 23, 2011 at Access 18

1 lb 11.2 oz
240 cigarette butts
25 food wrappers
10 straws
19 plastic caps
1 plastic bottle
1 juice pouch
5 sand toys
5 zip-lock bags
1 plastic bag

Day 90: Aug 25, 2011 at Access 39

1 lb 9.1 oz of litter
176 cigarette butts
1 straw
14 caps
1 plastic bottle
1 shoe
2 sand shovels


Danielle

"It Starts With Me" a Brita FilterForGood Film Project


www.itstartswithme-danielle.blogspot.com

Week 19--John and Ginger in Zone 3 at Access 18

John and I adopted Access # 18.  So far, I have not included that report with our litter report, but this time I decided that it would be okay.

Given that it is Labor Day Weekend and given Nancy's last email of all the trash she has been collecting on the beach, I decided it would be a good time to clean up.

We picked up about 3 bags of trash in 25 minutes.  I spent about 15 minutes focusing on cigarette butts (since Nancy is focusing on Sea Turtle Tracks).  In that 15 minutes, I collected 406 butts!!!!

We also collected

1 plastic bag

1plastic bottle

several pieces of the construction plastic that Nancy talked about

6 toys

28 bottle caps

5 aluminum cans

2 ziplock bags

1 latex glove (shredded like a balloon)

2 plastic lids

1 Wendy's fast food bags and contents

24 straws

1 six pack ring (very sad)

1 "I (double heart) Jessus" hair bow

1 wallet that we turned into the police department

Yesterday, we went boating and to Mason's Inlet on the South End of Figure Eight Island.  We noticed that the construction plastic had washed up there as well.  We grabbed what we could in our hands.  We also collected two balloons, 1 ziplock bag, and we scooped a plastic bag out of the Inlet that contained 5 plastic bottles!

For the fun of it, I decided to photograph the total collection of toys that John and I have picked up this year.

40  unbroken shovels

25 broken shovel pieces

10 sand pails

32 broken sand pail handles

27 sand molds

11 plastic rakes

and my favorite are the toy men.

I also took pics of our collectables in their containers (minus all the bottle caps b/c I gave those to Bonnie already---all 400 & some of them!!)

lots and lots of straws

Here is our jar of balloons 

I think Speckles is going to miss our Monday Morning Trash Sortings!!!

week 19-- letter from Nancy

It was vey disheartening this morning to find an ENDLESS amount of plastic on the beach.  A lot of litter was above the tide line and was likely strewn about by visitors this weekend.  :(  However, at the tide line and below, there are thousands of pieces of plastic to be found, large and small, along the entire length of the strand.  Even if I had spent the whole day trying to collect it all, it still would not have been possible.  Much of it is a very heavy construction grade plastic sheeting.  I feel certain this has washed up on the beach and continues to be carried in on the tide.  Where it came from, I have no idea, but I can tell you, our beach is trashed with this material.  As a matter of fact, there was more litter on our beach this morning than I have seen for many years.  I literally felt ill when I finally left today.

I collected about six grocery store size bags of trash this morning, three yesterday, and 1 1/2 on both Thursday and Friday.  This includes much of the heavy grade plastic, NINE balloons & strings, and a shattered glass liquor bottle in front of Shell Island Resort.  I picked up all of the large pieces of glass, but many shards remained.  I felt horrible thinking about the likelihood of someone stepping on those tiny fragments of glass that were left behind.  I've also carried a few towels and other large items to the trash cans.

The very first day, I found a huge loggerhead sea turtle washed up dead in the surf on the north end.  The poor thing was in pieces and falling apart.  Not a nice way to start my two weeks of monitoring, to say the least!  Yesterday, someone had a party on the north side of JM Pier (photos attached).  Tiki torches and fuel were also littered about the site.  They must have had one awesome good time!  Too bad they were too tired to clean up after themselves.  Today, people were sleeping all along the beach; at Mallard St., Stone St., near the Oceanic, and at Access #41.   I've passed people with dogs on the beach every single morning.  Ugh!

Okay, so much for all the doom and gloom.  The great news is that our nest is intact, the trench has been built, and we have the arrival of some beautiful sea turtle hatchlings in our very near future!

I will look forward to seeing many of you on the beach!

Nancy

Pizza Party for KIC Volunteers

Hi All,

The Pizza Party was a huge success.  I brought the trash that John and I collected over the past 18 weeks.  Bonnie Monteleone talked to us about plastic debris in the Ocean, Susan Collins, BOA Member,  thanked everyone on behalf of the town, some of you got to meet Danielle Richardet for the first time, Lindsay Addison joined us from Audobon, and we all got to eat yummy pizza from Vito's

Thank you to my wonderful (and "gorgeous" husband, as one of you put it) for making this happen.  :-)

It was fun to mingle with everyone.

I have only two pics that John took.  One is of the pizza and one is of some of you viewing the trash.

week 19--Dick and Linda in zone 1

TQ,

     Linda and I walked Zone 1 today.  No turtles and 1 and 1/2 grocery bags of trash.  Looks like they are waiting until tomorrow to CRAP UP Zone 1.  Rgds  Dick and Linda

week 18--Jill's last report in zone 4

Hi Ginger,

So sad...our last report...

Zone 4, Tuesday, 8/30 - 1 grocery bag

Have a great holiday weekend!


Jill

week 18--Pleasant Morning for Michelle in zone 4

Wednesday, August 31, was the most beautiful morning. We had a gentle rain the night before and it was only 66 degrees!  I even had to wear a jacket for the first half of my walk in Zone 4.  I only picked up 1/2 bag of trash.  Two cups, string, one beer can, one balloon, a few pieces that looked like thick roof shingles, and a plastic fork.  The sunrise was spectacular and the walk took me about twice as long as it usually does because of all the shells...huge!  No tracks today, but it was a wonderful summer.  Three nests...way to go WBSTP!!!  Michelle

wek 18--Kim & Celia in zone 1

Celia and I picked up only 2 bags of trash on Sunday.  Unfortunately I would assume the bulk of things were washed out to sea.  We did find some weird items: a plastic chair covered in barnacles and a tire apparently from an artificial reef. 

week 18--John Littlejohn finds lots of trash washed up in zone 1

Ginger,

     While walking Zone 1 this morning, I was surprised by the quantity of trash and wound up with four bags (H/T plastic type).  In another surprise and perhaps because of the storm, most of what I found was floating in the water or was just at the shoreline.  Items found included:

a Wrightsville Beach blue trash drum which I dragged from the water and left well above the high tide mark, many aluminum cans and plastic water bottles, plastic drink pouches, many plastic bags like the very one I was using to corral the trash, a sand bucket, and (drum roll, please) panty hose floating on the incoming tide.

                                                                                                                              John Littlejohn 

Susan post Irene

My husband Jeff and I headed out to the Oceanic Pier at about 8:00 am on Sunday. We were anxious to see what Irene had left for us on the beach. Surprisingly, we did not find that much garbage; definitely not nearly as much as I was expecting. Now I know this is just because Ginger, John and Nancy had already done a cleanup in this area!

Again, just as it was on Friday, it was amazing and sad to see the amount of litter that had already obviously spent a long time tumbling around out in the sea. We found some bits of metal (cans maybe?) that were very mangled and rather sharp. Jeff moved some tires away from the tide line that were heavy and covered with barnacles.

The biggest surprise of the day was the amount of treasure that Irene left for us. I have never seen so many large shells and starfish. Sadly, the starfish were deceased by the time we found them, since they had been out of the water all night. I spotted a sea urchin, some kind of interesting sea slug (that we returned to the water) and 3 different kinds of crabs. We saw lots of people walking down the beach with large pieces of sea glass and other interesting finds.

I was truly astonished to see so many incredible things on the beach on Sunday. It was a powerful reminder of how majestic the ocean and all of its inhabitants are, and how important it is for us to protect it.
Peace,
Susan

--
Susan Z. Miller
Freelance Writer and Editor
email: szmiller980@gmail.com
web: http://www.szmiller.homestead.com

Oceanic Waiter caught "Keeping It Clean"

Dick and I were down at the Oceanic Thursday night with friends and saw from the window, an Oceanic waiter out in the dunes surrounding the Oceanic picking up trash.  I don't know if this is something the Oceanic does, if the waiter was tired of seeing a mess or just because.  But I think that it is a wonderful thing.  If it is something the Oceanic does regularly - I applaude them!  Linda Chapman

Rick & Jill in zones 0 & 4---week 17

Hi Ginger,

Thanks for the reminder!  The blog updates look exciting, so can't wait to check in!  Thanks so much for doing this!

Here's a quick update:

Tuesday, Zone 4 8/23 - 1/2 grocery bag
Friday, Zone 0 8/26 - full grocery bag

Have a wonderful week!


Jill

week 17--Renee in zone 2

Renee collected 4 bags of trash in zone 2.

week 16--Nicole in zone 2

 I collected one bag of trash in Zone 2 on Friday August 19th.

weeks 16 & 17--Mellissa in zone 4

Hi Ginger
I have forgotten to update you. Zone 4
Last Friday Aug 26 - We had about 1/2 a grocery size bag of garbage and a plastic chair. There was an extremely high tide as the storm was coming in, I think most garbage was swept out to sea. 
The Friday before Aug 19 - one full grocery size bag of garbage. 


Thanks!
-Mellissa

week 18--Dick and Linda find NO trash in zone 1

TQ,

     NO yes that's right, NO trash in Zone 1 today.  Lots of broken shells etc.  It looks like the tide came all the way up to the dunes and a bit further at the entrance by Shell Island.  Rgds  Dick and Linda

week 18--John and Ginger in zone 4

This was our final official walk for the 2011 Nesting Season as Nancy will take over Sept. 1 - Sept 15.
There were still a lot of shells on the beach and also some trash from Hurricane Irene.  All total, we collected about 4 bags of trash.  We also picked up a lot of plastic bags from the beach over the last few days---all total--11!!!  I sure wish we could ban plastic bags and smoking on the beach.

Our loot for today:
1 plastic cup
2 cig butts (of course, there are many many more, but we didn't pick them up)
11 plastic bags
4 ziplock bags
8 toys
19 bottle caps
2 plastic bottles
1 pair of reading glasses
1 balloon
17 straws
1 towel
1 aluminum can

Wrightsville Beach after Hurricane Irene

I have been on WB 3 times since Irene has visited and left her mark.

The first time was with Nancy to help check on the nest.  We found lots of trash that had been churned up by Irene.  Since the trashcans had been removed in preparation for the storm, we pulled the trash past the high tide line and left it for public works---it really was the best we could do.  Among our trash, was a tire (there were several), a crab pot that was about to be washed back into the surf, a wool blanket, a pair of reading glasses, a pair of sunglasses, 2 pair of snorkeling goggles, and about 4 pair of swimming goggles, and endless amounts of fishing line and rope entangled in the sea grass.

However, we saw lots of beautiful treasures on the shore line which reminded me of how wonderful and diverse Mother Nature really is.

The other times I visited the beach, I was with John and our friend, Jason.  I collected trash and shells each time.

Today, I thanked the public works department for collecting all of the tires that were spit out by the Ocean (who can blame her---I would throw it up too!).  The back of the Public Works truck was full and overflowing with tires when I stopped to talk to them.  The two young men loading the tires expressed amazement at the amount of tires they had collected and stated they had only driven about half the beach so far.  I wish I had had my camera at the time, but I didn't.  You will just have to believe me when I say I don't know how they would have piled one more tire on the stack!  They were off to dump the load before returning to the beach.

Please enjoy some of our pics below.