Caution on the Beach

I always enjoy the beautiful sunrise that awaits me when I reach WB for my Monday morning "turtle walk".  It really is a nice way to start the week.

I was really hoping to find tracks since it has been two weeks since "the mothers" have visited our beach; but that was not the case this morning.

I also did not find a lot of trash, which was refreshing until I reached Oceanic Pier.  The work site there continues to be a concern for me.  Let me give credit where credit is due....they have put up a solid orange tarp around the machinery and construction materials.  This is very helpful as it will keep turtles from crawling into that space and getting disoriented or entangled in any of the construction materials.  It will also help reduce any loose construction packaging from blowing out of the area and creating marine debris.  I am very thankful for this effort as I know it is a difficult situation to contain and I am sure all concerned will be happy when the project is complete.

However, there continues to be lots of receipts, straw paper, sugar packets, cracker wrappers, mint wrappers, etc. that is littering that area.  The screen on Oceanic Pier is reducing some of this litter, but not all.  The paper will disintegrate quickly and is not as much of a concern as the plastic, except for it is unsightly on our beautiful beach.

But, the larger concern is the loose and dangling caution tape.  I realize we need to keep people out of the construction zone, but when that zone is on the beach, we need to make sure the plastic tape is secure.  I also know that this could have happened over night and the construction workers maybe did not have time to check on it yet.  However, when we are using plastic on the beach or in a coastal environment, we need to take extra "caution" as winds can carry debris quickly into the ocean.  Also, we have lots of wildlife interaction on the beach and dangling caution tape can cause entanglement issues.  All in all, I removed about 105 feet of dangling tape!  Be assured,  I would have never touched this tape had it been secured.  (The battery on my camera had died, so unfortunately I was unable to take a picture of the tape on the beach).

All in all, I collected 1 reusable bag of trash which included the following items:

12 cigarette butts
3 food wrappers
9 bottle caps (one looked like it had been in the ocean for some time and had bite marks on it)  :-(

3 plastic lids
12 straws/stirrers
4 plastic cutlery
3 cigarette lighters
6 pieces of construction material
2 foam pieces
6 plastic bottles
1 aluminum can
3 cups (1 paper, 1 plastic, 1 foam)
32 plastic packaging materials (from food, toys, etc)
1 strapping band
4 baby wipes
1 dryer sheet
1 flip flop
4 toys (including a football)
1 pair of sunglasses
1 plastic shot gun shell
1 ball of surf wax

At home, I found 1 Gigi with a plastic cone head!  I don't think she likes the plastic either!

Ginger