Bahia Honda State Park in Big Pine Key, Florida is home to long stretches of Sargassum covered beaches. This brown seaweed collects along the shoreline in huge floating clumps, sometimes in mats so thick you can walk on them! These massive algae islands serve to preserve the integrity of the beach, protecting the coast during storms and rough waves. Unfortunately, they also catch washed up garbage and debris that can end up in the stomach of an ibis or manatee. That's where the Tropical Ospreys swoop in to save the day!
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Our team collected over 10 burlap bags worth of trash, including some interesting items...
- a straw hat in almost perfect condition (minus the smell)
- 30 plastic spoons
- 15 plastic forks
- 9 right shoes
- 9 left shoes
- 5 toothbrushes
- a seemingly endless amount of plastic water bottle caps
- lots and lots of microplastics
There was also a surprising lack of plastic straws, and an alarming amount of plastic cups and bottles. But what can we make of this? Number one, maybe the "Save the Turtles" movement actually did something to keep people from using plastic straws. While this is awesome on its own, it seems like we can be doing more. Making the switch to reusable and compostable materials like bamboo toothbrushes and metal water bottles can help drastically cut down on the plastic in our oceans. Check out EarthHero for some sustainable swaps. But why is this so important?
I'm glad you asked! What's so dangerous about these hard plastics is that while they don't biodegrade, or break down naturally, they do break apart into tiny fragments. These can then be swallowed by a variety of larger animals, filling their stomachs and poisoning their bodies. The picture below is from the National Key Deer Refuge Nature Center, and it shows the contents of a key deer's stomach.
If we all work together to make more sustainable and ecofriendly choices, we can make sure that the only thing in our animals friends' tummies is food.
Being on that beach cleanup definitely gave a different perspective on just how much trash ends up on beaches. From afar it didn't seem like alot until we got all the bags into a pile and then it was eye opening just how much trash we found from such a small stretch of beach. Definitely felt good afterwards helping out with the cleanup.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised by the types of litter we found as well. I only expected the smaller items, but there were also things like flower pots and ropes. Traditionally I think of plastic tableware, which we did find, but the other items made me realize that anything in the waste stream can end up in the ocean. I was especially surprised to see that the thing I found the most were bottle caps. I would never expect that they would be so detrimental, especially considering that they end up as microplastic fragments. It made me start thinking about ways to incorporate the thicker plastics into sculptures and other ways to keep them out of the waste stream.
ReplyDeleteHey Bri,
ReplyDeleteI also noticed that there was a surprising lack of plastic straws and plastic bags however an overwhelming amount of plastic bottles and bottle caps. Since plastic straws and bags are majorly being pushed out of our society by bans and the help of eco-conscious people it is likely that less of these items are showing up on our beaches. It would definitely be beneficial to try to find some alternatives to plastic bottles, such as reusable bottles and essential ban plastic bottles as well. I also find it really sad that these plastics aren't only affecting the sea life but also the animals living on land. I was shocked when I saw that these thing were found in a keydeers stomach. Knowing how badly plastic and trash affect the animals and the environment just make me feel so much better that we were able to make a difference and cleanup such a big stretch of the Bahia Honda beach.
Doing this clean up was a really awesome feeling because looking back afterwards you could really see the difference that we made along the beach. The shoreline that was visibly littered in trash looked a lot cleaner when we were done than it did when we started. Seeing how many bags we filled when we were all done felt really good. However, we all know that more trash will sadly wash up on that beach. I hope that going forward more and more people will participate to keep our beautiful beaches clean.
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