Nancy's last two days before foot patrol---an amusing read!!!

Hi Ginger,
 
Yesterday, the beach was a mess!  You could definitely tell it was the weekend.  I disposed of seven bags of trash, which included four balloons, and lots of cups, cans, bottles, sand shovels, and plastic wrappers.  In addition to that, I also found two chairs, a wad of fishing line,

 one towel, one styrofoam cooler with the lid & cans and wrappers scattered all around it, one set of keys, seven people sleeping, and one dog a-walkin'.  The chairs, towel, and cooler with scattered trash were all disposed of.  The people sleeping were reported to the police, and the dog with human in tow were reminded they should not be on the beach.  
 
The most bizarre sight of the day was a chair found at the south end.  It had been partially burned! 

 It had the long fishing line tied to it with two raw chicken legs attached.  Gross!! 

 I made sure the fishing line and chicken were buried in the trash can so the birds could not get to it, then I had to put the chair next to the can since it would not fit inside.  I was a bit perplexed at the use of raw chicken legs for fishing (Eeewwww!), but the consensus is the people that left this mess were likely crabbing.  
 
This morning, I collected four bags of trash including lots of cups, wrappers, sand shovels, and two balloons.  I also disposed of one towel and one broken  sand pail.
 
I have enjoyed my early morning rides during the last two weeks.  Along the way, I've marveled at sights of beauty and wonder, and at others not so much. 

The strangest discovery was a recliner I found on the beach near JM Pier last week.  Now that is relaxing at the beach!! 

 Though I tried and tried, I just could not fit it into one of the garbage cans.  :)  Someone managed to remove it from the strand, though, because it was gone the next day.  Geez!!!
 
That is it for patrolling via 4-wheeler and the volunteers begin foot patrols tomorrow.  I will miss my morning rides, and will be hoping for an early morning phone call about the discovery of tracks on the beach.  Here's to a nest very soon for Wrightsville Beach!
 
Best of luck out there, everyone!

May 11 & 12--In case you did not know, Nancy does not wear pink hats :-)

Hi Ginger,
 
Yesterday, May 11th, I collected 2 1/2 bags of litter from Wrightsville Beach.  This included five balloons, several styrofoam and plastic cups, plastic wrappers and cans.  Some of the lifeguard stands have yellow caution tape wrapped around them.  This tape is getting blown and torn down and I have cleaned the plastic tape off the beach for the past few days.  
 
In addition to the bags of trash, I disposed of two frisbees, two towels, and a wet suit top.  
 
Today, May 12th, the beach was more littered and I am already dreading tomorrow.  I filled three bags with trash which included another dirty diaper (Yay!), lots of cups, cans, and wrappers.  A lady was walking her dog on the north end very near the ropes of the bird sanctuary.  I reminded her that dogs were not allowed on the beach and that there would be a very fat fine if she was caught.  Mostly, I was worried she was too close to the birds with her dog and that she was causing a problem for the nesting parents.  She acted as though she did not know about the "no dogs allowed" rule, and prepared to leave the beach. Thank goodness!  
 
I also fished a chair and pink hat off the dunes on the south side of Station One and put them in the garbage cans.  There are several other chairs I think were left behind on the beach, so if they are still out there tomorrow, I will put them in the trash, as well.
 
Two days of riding left to go!!

May 10 Nancy finds a diaper

May 10th:  This morning, I removed 3 3/4 bags of trash from the beach.  My findings included a diaper, several cans, a visor, plastic wrappers, cups, bottles & lids, and five balloons.  Also placed in the trash cans were another large sheet of the black nylon/canvas material, a black zippered tote bag, and a gallon size plastic water bottle. 

Have a wonderful day!

May 9--Nancy finds condoms and dog poop on beach

May 9th:  Once again, there was quite a bit of trash to be found on WB this morning.  I collected four bags of trash, including a balloon, a pair of shoes, lots of plastic wrappers and cups, as well as a used condom and the empty wrapper.  Yuck!  (The condom was scooped off the sand with a plastic toy shovel also found on the beach this morning.)  A lady actually stopped me to report her sighting of this particularly disgusting item.  She then said, "People are pigs!"  Ya think??  :)

In addition to the four bags of trash, the following items were taken to the trash cans:  One blanket and the empty half gallon of vodka next to it.  Can you say OUCH???  One large glass bottle; sandy contents unknown, three beach chairs, one towel, one shirt, and 1 1/2 pairs of sandals, and a partridge in a pear tree!

On the south end, I found a very large hole/trench that had been dug up the side of the dune, under the roped off area, and into the bird sanctuary.  This was very upsetting, and I could only hope the thoughtless people that invaded the birds' refuge did not cause any harm or the abandonment of a newly laid nest.   Ugh!!  This was later reported to Lindsay Addison of Audubon so she could assess the damage to the dune and any potential disturbance of the nesting birds.

Just before leaving the beach, a visitor from Tennessee saw me collecting trash near JM Pier and had the following to say:  "It is horrible how people here just trash this beach!  I can not believe folks just get up and leave behind all this litter.  I have had to clean the beach of trash before finding a spot to place my beach chair in the sand. "  Oh my.  Is this really the impression we want to make on our visitors?   

My last observation of the morning involved a lady on the beach with a German Shephard that was doing his business in the dunes.  She must have been in an awful hurry 'cause she didn't even bother to pick up after her pooch.  Double yuck!!

Here's to a nest very soon for WB!

Nancy

May 7 & 8 with Nancy--High Tide brings in wrack line and Nancy Faye Craig

May 7th:  The lunar high tides brought in a very thick line of wrack and lots of debris.  I collected four bags of random trash, one life jacket, two towels, and a few plastic gallon containers.  My booty for the day included four balloons.  Sadly, most of the trash I had observed on Sunday was likely washed out to sea.  
 
May 8th:  The tides were even higher last night, and there is a humungous line of wrack all along the shoreline, all harboring marine debris of all kinds. I collected four bags of trash, consisting of mostly plastic, plus three balloons. In addition to that, I found a plastic half gallon water bottle, a large piece of styrofoam, and two large pieces of nylon/canvas type material, plus half of a one gallon size plastic bottle. 
 
I had the pleasure of seeing volunteer extraordinaire, Nancy Faye Craig, near the Blockade Runner.  It sure was nice to see her smiling face as she jogged down the beach this morning!
 
That about sums it up, so far!

 
Nancy 

May 6 with Nancy, Chinese Lanterns and the question: "Is someone nude?"

May 6th:  This was not the greatest of mornings, in more ways than one.  For starters, I found a very sick shorebird on the north end.  He didn't fly away as I approached, and on my way south, I noticed he was still in the exact same spot.  I got off the 4-wheeler and approached the little bird.  He tried to fly, but was too weak to make much progress.  Without much effort, I was able to lift him from the sand.  Tucking him under my arm, I headed toward Mallard St., where I park the trailer.  I have a box in the vehicle for just this type of situation.  Making sure the vehicle was well ventilated, I left the bird there to rest while I monitored the south end of the island.

The beach was totally trashed!!  I was completely distressed at the amount of litter left behind on the shoreline and at the over flowing trash cans all along the strand.  Even if visitors wanted to discard their trash in the cans, it would not have been possible.  It was completely overwhelming and horrible!  I collected four bags of random trash including four balloons, and one beach chair.  

At the Oceanic, I found numerous Chinese Lanterns, all left behind in the sand.  A cardboard box holding the extra bags and lots of candles was left sitting on the beach grass nearby.  Our new friend Roger was on the beach and once again helped me to clean up this awful mess.  All of the debris was placed in the trash cans.  Roger also handed me the keys I had found along with the pair of pants yesterday.  Oh boy!

Chinese Lanterns littered on the beach.

Next to the Oceanic, I also found a canopy frame (I like to call them skeletons).  According to the WB ordinance, these items should not be left on the beach overnight.   The discovery was called into the NH Co. dispatch center so that the item could be tagged and removed ASAP.

On my way off the beach, I found a hat, wallet, and another set of keys on a bench at Access #11.  Geez!!  The PD is closed on Sunday, but I called NH Co. Dispatch and made arrangements to meet an officer at the door of the building so I could hand over both sets of keys and other items.  This gave me a chance to ask the officer if anyone had been found wandering around nude and drunk on Friday night or Saturday morning.  He just looked at me like I was nuts and shook his head no!  Haha!

I took the small gull to Amelia Mason (the bird rehabber) for care.  She said she thought he was perhaps an immature gull.  Hopefully he is hanging in there!

Nancy

Cinco de Mayo with Nancy, Roger and a Rubber Duck!

Hi Ginger,
 
Here is the latest news coming from Wrightsville Beach:
 
Cinco de Mayo:  I collected three grocery store sized bags of random trash, once again, mostly plastic wrappers and containers, and three balloons.  On the north side of CYC, I found an empty beer box and thirteen empty cans.  Along with the trash, was a shirt and pair of rainbow flip-flops.  The cans were placed in the recycling and the shirt and shoes left by the trash can.  I met a gentleman at the site named Roger that helped me to clean the beach.  He was so upset that someone would leave such a mess on our beautiful shore.  A short distance past the cans, I found a pair of pants and a set of keys on a lanyard.  I placed these items next to a trash can, as well.  At that point, I began to wonder if someone had been arrested on the beach intoxicated and nude!  (The next day, I was given the chance to ask....more on that later.)
 
The good news is that there are others out there helping to KIC.  I had noticed several styrofoam cups and wrappers near JM Pier that I planned to pick up on my return trip up the beach.   However, when I arrived back at the pier, the litter was gone!  Apparently, some kind soul had already beat me to it~~thank you, thank you, thank you!
 
The most interesting find of the day was a little yellow rubber ducky.  I noticed it at the tide line just north of JM Pier.  I couldn't resist the photo op of this dated marine debris.  Obviously this little ducky was launched with a romantic notion that it would sail the vast blue sea to distant shores far, far away.  Sadly, in reality, this was just another piece of plastic trash discarded into our precious ocean; thankfully spit back out of the surf onto WB only one day later.   What are people thinking of....really?? 
 
Have a great weekend!
 
Nancy

Week 3-- Susan Miller in zone 3

 Friday, May 18, zone 3

Well, to be honest, today was not quite what I was hoping for for my first litter clean up of the summer 2012 season. The sky was uniformly gray and it drizzled on and off throughout my whole walk. It was quite windy and chilly. All in all though, I am reminded that I am fortunate to spend time at the ocean at any time, regardless of the weather!

Because the weather has been somewhat dreary for the last couple of days, there wasn't too terribly much litter to pick up this morning. I collected about 1/4 of my reusable bag (equal to one plastic grocery bag) of assorted small bits of litter, consisting mostly of plastic snack wrappers such as Lance snack crackers, plastic utensils, plastic sand toys, beer bottle caps, cigarette butts, plastic straws, and plastic bottle caps. I also found 2 stray flip flops (not a pair) and one opened but unused condom.

There was a rather steep escarpment throughout most of my zone this morning, and just a few other walkers and joggers who were braving the gloomy weather. The coolest thing I happened to see was this little house that someone built right at the shoreline, just past beach access #32. It was made completely of natural materials, so I left it as it was. Very cute!

Welcome to Sea Turtle Nesting Season 2012 (Days 1-4) with Nancy Fahey

Hi All,


I am so excited to get the nesting season started this year.  I just feel so good and positive and ecstatic about it.  One reason is because I have come to realize how many friends and experiences the sea turtles have brought to me and I am just feeling so grateful this year.


Like always, our Great WB Sea Turtle Leader, Nancy Fahey will be monitoring for nests for the first two weeks of May.  And, like always, Nancy is stopping to pick up trash on the beach strand.  She really "walks the walk".  Below are her reports for the first 4 days.


Thank you Nancy for including such wonderful information and pictures about the birds.  Too bad we are continuing to find so many balloons.  As we all know, balloons are particularly threatening to sea turtles b/c they often mistake them for food.  Once the turtle ingest balloons, they can become sick and may even starve as the balloon, or any foreign object for that matter, can make the sea turtle feel satiated and therefore will not eat.


One day while volunteering at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Hospital (STH), I was helping treat Riptide, a very sick Green Sea Turtle.  While I was holding Riptide in my lap for his bath, he pooped a piece of red latex balloon!  There have also been other turtles that have pooped balloons at the STH.  


Seaturtle.org has other photos of necropsies done on sea turtles in which balloon remnants have been found.


Balloons being released into the air may seem like an innocent educational lesson about the properties of helium, but it actually produces deadly litter for many wildlife.  Not only do animals such as turtles, birds and others ingest the balloons, but they also become entangled in the string and often die as a result. 


Please be responsible and dispose of balloons properly instead of releasing them.  OR, better yet, do not buy them at all as they will only end up in the landfill and that trash often ends up in our environment.


Did you know that WB voted to ban balloons a couple of years ago, but that vote got reversed?  However, they did vote to specifically include "releasing of balloons" in their litter ordinance.  WB ordinances also prevents balloons from being used on signs and decorations.


Day 1 From Nancy

Hi Ginger,

What a beeeeeautiful morning on the beach!!    After taking a moment to joyously watch the first sunrise of the season, 

I glanced down to catch of glimpse of something a tad bit sobering:  the first balloon of the season.  Ugh!!
 I collected eight busted balloons & strings, a large clear plastic raft, and a grocery store size bag of random trash.

The highlight of the morning, aside from the sunrise, was a tour of the bird sanctuary on the south end.  I spotted Lindsay Addison of Audubon and stopped to say hello.  She generously offered to take me through the sanctuary to survey the nests.  How amazing was that??  I also got to see turtlers Jill and Joan already walking Zone 4.  Yay!!

In the sanctuary, these incredibly camouflaged eggs were laid by the smallish Least Terns.  They simply scrape a depression in the sand, and deposit the eggs.  It is truly a wonder any survive!!  Without protection of the nesting areas, there would be no hope of hatching success for these shorebirds, without a doubt. Word to the wise: some of these Terns laid their eggs outside of the roped off area!  :(  They are going to move the ropes out, a bit, to try to protect most of them, but everyone should be very careful when walking in the soft sand near the ropes.  They are nearly impossible to see!! (Some kind folks, as you will notice, encircled some of the vulnerable nests with shells in an effort to protect them.)  I do hope their little eggs are not crushed!

Stay tuned for more news from the beach!




Day 2 From Nancy:
Hi Ginger,

Another gorgeous sunrise over Wrightsville Beach this morning!  I ride to the north end first, just so I can get a birds' eye view of the splendor created by the sun rising over the Atlantic.

The beach was nice and clean this morning, relatively speaking.  I found:  5 balloons and string, and collected one random bag of trash, all of which were plastic wrappers and containers.  I saw a few chairs which I suspected were abandoned, however, just to make sure, I will check again tomorrow.  If they are still on the beach, I will drag them to the trash cans.

Interestingly, one of the balloons was a "Strawberry Shortcake" balloon and on it was written Olivia Brooks.  All of them were north of JM Pier.  I have to wonder if they are being released from the beach.

That is about it for today!




Day 3 From Nancy:
Greetings Ginger,

The beach wasn't quite so clean today, and I collected 2 1/2 grocery store size bags of trash, plus a large sand pail.  Once again, the litter was mostly plastic containers and wrappers.  The most offending items included:

1 nylon mesh bag (The type beach toys are packaged in~I hate these bags; they are a death trap for wildlife!)

2 wads of fishing line

17 (yes that is SEVENTEEN) balloons!  These were small lime green water balloons, mostly busted, with two water filled ones also found on the beach.  They were all between the Oceanic and Stand #13/Access 40.  I'm sure I did not find all of the balloons, and no telling how many ended up in the water.  Just when I thought I was going to enjoy a balloon-free day, wham!!  That certainly busted my bubble!

Hope you have a great day!




Day 4 From Nancy:
Hi Ginger,

I collected about three bags of trash this morning, including a large glass wine bottle and NINE busted balloons.  Yup, you guessed it: they were light green and had washed up between the Oceanic and Access #40.  I also put one abandoned beach chair in the trash cans.

Sure hope we find some turtle tracks on WB soon!


I almost forgot, but I also picked up one styrofoam cooler & lid along with five empty beer cans from under JM Pier!

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