What quote am I vibing? "And the turtles, of course all the turtles are free, as turtles, and, maybe, all creatures should be." Dr. Seuss
Pounds of Trash Removed from the Wild in May: 51
Pounds of Trash Removed from the Wild in 2020: 158
All-Time Pounds of Trash Removed from the Wild: 682
Happy World Turtle Day!! The sea turtle has been a huge inspiration in my trash pickup journey, and I'll take this opportunity to remind my friends of a few other things besides keeping the beach clean that we can do for turtles:
Don't dig holes on the beach, and if you do, fill them in! If a mother turtle comes onto the beach to lay her eggs, and fall into a hole - the consequences can be dire. Don't make the job harder than it already is.
Don't leave food scraps on the beach. The orange peel and watermelon rind that you think are innocuous - these things can draw ants or other bugs. These insects can be damaging to any nearby turtle nests/eggs.
Don't have bright lights or fires on or near the beach during sea turtle nesting season (May - October) - these can scare away a mother turtle, and she may completely scrap egg-laying plans if she feels nervous.
I have found opportunities in May to get back to cleanups, and it has been very therapeutic as it always is! The beaches by me have reopened, and are typically not very busy once you get out of the parking lot entry areas. The streets, and I expect the beach, were cleaner when we were under stay-at-home orders, and now people are back to leaving their trash on the beach, and tossing it out windows. Sadly.
Brian was committed to a cleanup across the street from Martin County High School which was very satisfying - lots of cans and bottles and junk were hiding in those woods.
Today I had my first confrontation - of sorts - as confrontation-y as things get for me. As we were driving from the Stuart Beach parking lot, I saw someone throw a water bottle on the street while packing their trunk. I found a place to pull off and walked back to the car - the cretins had gotten in their car and I found a second bottle on the street. Well, I picked up the bottles and gave them a good long stare and walked back to my car to put the bottles with my other trash with just as much attitude as I could muster. Do not like these littering fiends. But will not let my anger ruin what was a lovely evening on the beach.
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