Today is Memorial Day and we are thankful for all the sacrifices that others have made so that we can enjoy our freedoms.
In addition to finding trash today, we also found a dead baby shark and a very large hole.
Please remember to educate others about filling in their holes before they leave the beach. Sea Turtles can become trapped in these holes; and in fact, a nesting sea turtle in Florida got stuck in a hole. The poor turtle's head became buried, meaning she was unable to breath. Lucky for her, kind people found her and were able to help dig her out and release her back to the sea. You can read the story on their facebook page. Below is a picture of the turtle.
Our trash included:
29 cig butts
46 food wrappers
16 plastic bottle caps
4 metal bottle caps
10 plastic lids
15 straws/stirrers
4 fishing related items
1rope
6 balloons
1 cigar tip
8 fireworks
11 foam pieces
30 plastic pieces
6 plastic bottles
6 glass bottles
5 cans
1 paper bag
4 plastic cups
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| John walks toward a red Solo cup before it gets washed out to sea. |
2 foam cups
4 pieces of clothing including 3 mismatched socks and 1pair of underwear
13 toys
5 shoes
3 pairs of sunglasses
3 plastic zip ties (these are from the dredging operation)
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| Kahuna always loves trash sorting time. He is up for adoption! |
June 2, 2014
We almost always pick up items that we then leave by the trash cans at the beach for the Public Works Department to pick up. We do this because items are either too heavy to drag up and down our zone, are too big, or maybe even too smelly. Today, we carried a blanket, towel, and chair to the trash can. Interestingly enough, the blanket and a few other items were left by the dredge pipe last week because we were not sure if they belonged to someone or not. But…nope…..they were still there this morning---cooler, drinks, blanket, shoes, and all! There for a whole week and no one picked them up. In fact, someone added a towel to the collection! :-)
Other items we collected today:
9 cig butts
32 food wrappers
11 plastic bottle caps
5 metal bottle caps
11 plastic lids
17 straws/stirrers
1 piece of a crab trap
2 pieces of fishing gear
2 pieces of fishing line
2 balloons
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| Mylar Balloon |
5 foam pieces
17 plastic pieces
6 plastic bottles
3 aluminum cans
2 ziplock bags
3 plastic cups
1 plastic fork
4 foam cups/plates
1 tobacco packaging/wrap
1 qtip
2 socks
11 toys
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| New toys with tags. They were broken and therefore abandoned. |
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| Plastic netting that new beach toys comes packaged in. These are very common on the beach. |
2 hair ties
4 bandaids
3 plastic zipties (from dredging operation)
4 pairs of sunglasses
1 pair of goggles
6 shoes
2 pieces of black burlap from dredging operation.
We also found another deep hole. I filled it in. As you can see, it came up to my waist. I would hate for a turtle or human to fall into that.
June 9, 2014
It is always beautiful at Wrightsville Beach. This year we have again encountered a friend whom we met last year. He picks up trash on Mondays as well, just because he thinks it is the right thing to do! We appreciate him!
Although the sunrise is stunning, we still have dredging equipment on our beach! Can't wait for that operation to be finished.
With dredging comes construction debris that might not otherwise be on the beach, such as all the plastic zip ties and pieces of burlap that we are finding this year. Today, I recovered the plastic orange netting that the zip ties hold to the metal stakes. About 15 feet of the netting was torn away from the stakes and buried in the sand. I uncovered it and threw it in the beach trash can.
Other items we collected today:
12 cig butts
52 food wrappers
5 plastic bottle caps
1 metal bottle cap
7 plastic lids
21 straws/stirrers
1 plastic cutlery
1 piece of crab pot
1 plastic lure
1 fishing lure plastic bag
5 balloons----there have actually been a lot of mylar balloons on the beach this year. I have even seen some in the trash cans that someone else has picked up and placed there. Balloons are very dangerous for wildlife. Sea turtles eat them. I have actually had a sea turtle defecate a balloon while I was cleaning him at the sea turtle hospital. Please do not let your balloons go.
4 pieces of construction material
1 firework
3 foam pieces
31 plastic pieces
1 glass bottle
2 aluminum cans
1 plastic grocery bag
7 other plastic bags
1 foam cup
3 strapping bands
1 tobacco packaging
1 chapstick
1 plastic dental flosser
1 bandaid
1 article of clothing
10 toys
7 shoes
1 shoe sole (a lost sole)
1 CAT gas tank cover (from dredging operation--it was returned to them)
2 swim masks
2 silica gel packs
1 bar of surf wax
1 pair prescription rayban glasses
4 zip ties (from dredging operation)
2 fabric ribbons
1 chapstick
1 large plastic snack canister
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| Kahuna does not understand why people would leave trash on the beach, but he loves the way it smells! He is up for adoption! |
June 16, 2014
Today I walked by myself because John was out of town.
I was disheartened to find more cigarette butts today. I hope the town is educating about the "no smoking" ordinance that was voted in by the WB citizens.
I also found more balloons. There is an ordinance against releasing balloons at the beach, but really they can end up at the beach no matter where you release them. To date (June 22, 2014) KIC volunteers have reported 54 balloons on our beach and Atlantic Beach volunteers have reported 194 on theirs. (This information comes from Ocean Conservancy) That is too many balloons!
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| This mylar balloon no longer has any color because it has been faded by the sun or washed away. In the ocean, it would surely resemble a jelly fish (common food for sea turtles). |
I got a kick out of two toys I found today. Once was a howling wolf---if you recall, we just had the Friday 13th full moon---guess this wolf wanted to come out and play! I don't blame him! The moon has been irresistible!
The other was a mermaid stuck in the wrack line with a cigarette butt. I couldn't help but think she stranded of smoke inhalation! I'm sure she wishes everyone would abide by the "smoke free" ordinance at WB.
My total count for today was:
49 cigarette butts
55 food wrappers
1 carry out container
15 plastic bottle caps
4 plastic lids
13 straws/stirrers
2 pieces of fishing line
1 rope
6 balloons
2 pieces of burlap (from dredging operation)
13 foam pieces
21 plastic pieces
2 plastic bottles
2 aluminum cans
4 grocery bags (these also look like jelly fish to sea turtles)
3 other types of plastic bags
4 plastic cups
4 foam cups
2 foam plates
1 tobacco packaging
1 bandaid
2 pieces of clothing
17 toys
4 shoes
1 pair of Prada sunglasses (sometimes you get paid to clean the beach!) (the lenses are scratched) :-/
1 gel boob insert
2 lint wads in wrack
1 broken chair
1 plastic zip tie
1 dryer sheet
1 plastic Motrin pack
1 plastic nicorette pack
1 pair of goggles
1 chap stick
1 silica gel pack
I also stopped and picked up plastic plant pots that had blown out of someone's truck and landed on the draw bridge. I didn't want all of these to end up in the waterway. I picked up 16 total, but there were more I was not able to get.
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| Kahuna rolled in these plastic bags I picked up from the beach. He is such a lover and he is up for adoption! |
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| Gigi and her friend, Belle are amused as I sort the trash. Belle found this old tennis ball in the natural area just behind her. It was probably left from a previous trash sorting day. |
Just got my cheque for over $500.
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