BEACH COMBING

By Sallie Phillips , No 2 / 2003

One of my favorite activities is beachcombing. It's a year-round sport for me and my house is filled with my "finds". There are some items that I find only at certain times of the year. March is a good time for spider crabs. And, if I can scare away the gulls, I can find the whole spider crab, not just the shell. In late April and early May I find many sand collars.

Although I have tried, I have yet to preserve a complete round collar as left behind by moon shells which are common all year long. Jackknife clam shells are also common but I find it hard to keep the two shells from breaking apart before I get home.

On the South shore beaches slipper shells are usually found attached to other shells and horseshoe crabs, however on the Long Island Sound beaches they are loose and scattered everywhere. The necklace-like egg cases of the knobbed whelk are easily found among the seaweed on the beach but I have not found one with the miniature whelks still inside since I was a child on the New Jersey shore.

This March I found a nine inch long brown mermaid's purse (a skate egg case) almost twice as long as the black ones which usually dot the beach. I don't know which species produced it.

* Spider crabs, Libinia emarginata, are slow-walking scavengers found all over the East Coast. Despite their appearance, they are not aggressive and rely mostly on camouflage for defense. Algae and other small particles accumulate on the shell, which is equipped with fine hook-like hairs, until the spider crab blends into its background. This crab feeds on sea worms, dead fish, debris, and algae. The shell of the spider crab may reach 4 inches across and the male's eight legs and two pincers are longer (up to 6 inches) than the female's appendages.

* The common northern moon shells, Lunatia heros, are gastropods which range in size from 2 to 4? inches across. They live beneath the sand and they are found on Atlantic Ocean shores from New Brunswick, Canada to North Carolina. They feed on other shellfish which they engulf and smother with their very large foot and then drill a neat beveled hole through the prey's shell to extract their meal. They deposit their eggs in a protective ring - a sand collar - which is made by cementing the sand grains in a circular area with a gluey substance which they produce.

* Jackknife clams, or Atlantic razor clams, Ensis directus, are long slender bi-valves which are common in the intertidal areas of beaches from the Carolinas to Canada. They burrow vertically in the sand with their feet and they feed with part of their shells sticking out. By rapidly opening and closing their shells, they are very fast swimmers.

* Atlantic slipper shells, Crepedula fornicate, come as small at ? inch and as large as 2 inches. They live in a fixed location, attached to other shells, rocks, or hard surfaces in shallow water where they filter food from the water. On the inside, the single shell has a small platform which goes about halfway down the length of the shell. It's this platform and the shape of the shell which resembles a shoe and gave the animal its name.

* Horseshoe crabs aren't crabs at all; they are more closely related to spiders and they existed 400 million years ago as they do today. Horseshoes are found along Atlantic beaches where the female deposits her eggs in the sand close to the shore around a spring high tide. The female which may be 3 feet long, including its tail, is larger than the male. The young stay in deeper water. (See underwater life articles, for more information on Horseshoe crabs.)

* Knobbed whelks, Busycon carica, grow to 8 or 9 inches in length. Ranging along the Atlantic from Cape Cod to northern Florida, these gastropods also drill into bivalve shells to feed on the meat inside. The females lay strings of egg capsules attached by one end in the sand on the bottom of the water.

* Mermaid's Purse is the folk name given to a skate's egg case. Related to rays, skates look like small sharks with wings. They are not aggressive and they live under the sand on the Ocean bottom. The female skate produces egg capsules in pairs with a single embryo in each. The developing skate gets the necessary oxygen from the seawater which is pumped through the tiny slits at the ends of the four points of the black egg case. The embryo's tail extension helps with the water flow by pulsing inside one of the case's points. When developed the skate exits through a slit between two of the points and the hollow empty case floats to the surface and washes up on the shore where it hardens. (See underwater life articles, for more information on the mermaid's purse.)

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BIRTH OF A DUNE

Ron Kluesener , No 3 / 1997

Those of us who live on the Barrier Beach, especially to the west at Gilgo and West Gilgo, can appreciate the dramatic change in connection with the Dune System along Ocean Parkway.

Just a few short years ago, dunes were nonexistent and in some places the Ocean was virtually up to the shoulder of Ocean Parkway.  Access to the Beach was actually a giant step down with large portions of the parkway shoulder, including many trees, literally tumbling into the sea.

The cause of course, is erosion, and continues today.  The situation became a crisis with Hurricane Gloria in 1985 and several Northeasters in the early 90’s.

The solution came in several forms.  The most important of which is Beach Nourishment from dredging of the Fire Island Inlet.  The placement of this material raised the grade and widened the beach giving us the lion’s share of the security we need to withstand the forces of another major hurricane that is sure to come.

Despite the fact that Ocean Parkway is 14 feet above sea level, additional protection is needed.  After the open beach, the next line of protection is the primary and secondary dunes.  When these features exist they function to dissipate wave energy and surge during extreme storm events.  Without these features, Ocean Parkway and the Barrier Island are at risk.

The Town, through the Department of Environmental Control placed snow fence in strategic locations to capture windblown sand and create a dune.  Behind the snow fence, rows of Xmas trees are carefully placed so as not to disturb existing vegetation.  The combination of fence and trees quickly allows the sand to accumulate.  Once the fence is covered, a new line of fence is installed at the base of this newly formed Dune.  The process is repeated over and over.  Once the north and south sides of the dune are formed, vegetation is planted to hold the sand in place.  This is often done by volunteers including children.

The added protection of a dune 8-10 feet high could make all the difference when the big one finally comes along.  The point is to protect the integrity of Ocean Parkway and therefore the bays to the north not to mention our own communities.  The cost of the program is negligible especially if one can imagine the destruction that flooding would cause to all of the communities along the mainland shoreline since they all are within one or two feet of Sealevel.  Millions, perhaps billions, of dollars could be wasted if we neglected to create and enhance our dune system.

The Town of Babylon Dune Management Program is already a great success in that State DOT didn’t have to plow the sand and sweep the Parkway this year as they had to do just two years ago.  In addition, the Town saved a great deal of money reusing Xmas trees instead of chipping them.

This year, we have applied to the State for a grant to help us further protect their property and ours.  It is our intention, if we are approved, to install two miles of fence starting at the County Line heading East.  Once again we will place Xmas trees in strategic locations and the process starts all over again.

To me, it’s a great feeling to drive along Ocean Parkway and see the lush vegetation growing on a dune that has also become a home for many birds and animals.  That at the same time, is also affording protection to the fragile environment of Great South Bay and thousands of home on the mainland.  Plus we have taken discarded Xmas trees and recycled them into a beneficial use.

You can do your share to help insure our success, please teach your guests and your kids to respect these dunes and please

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GHOSTS AT THE BEACH?

By Ron Kluesener , No 4 / 2002

You bet there are ghosts at the beach. Ghost Crabs, that is. Recently my kids and I enjoyed an evening at the beach. Suddenly, something scurried past us in the sand. Focusing our flash lights, it remained still long enough for us to capture it for a closer look. It turned out to be quite an interesting creature. The following information was taken off the internet:

Ghost Crabs, Ocypode quadrata, live in burrows along the sandy beaches of the eastern US. They reach sizes of over 50mm in width which is relatively large. They have 2 large black eyes that stand up like periscopes and allow them to see on all sides at once. They are swift footed and with their long legs, can run forward, backwards and sideways. They are named ghosts because they can literally disappear. They are omnivorous and eat other crabs, clams, insects, eggs, and vegetation. They feed at night and dig tunnels during the day. Younger crabs are usually found near the shore while older, larger crabs tend to be further away from the water. Like insects, they have an exoskeleton on the outside of their body that is shed when they outgrow it. They have gills that must be kept wet even thought they spend most of the lives on land. In the fall, they move away from the reach of the Ocean and burrow deep into the sand ready for winter hibernation. In April, they dig themselves out and tunnels of various sizes begin to appear along the beach.

Ron is the Commissioner of Environmental Control for the Town of Babylon.

MORE ABOUT GHOST CRABS

1. Ghost crabs produce 3 sounds: by rapping of a claw on the ground; by rubbing legs together to create a rasping; and by gurgling through the gill chamber to produce a bubbling.

2. Combat between males is much ritualized and rarely ends in physical contact.

3. The large eyes are very sensitive to changes in the intensity of light.

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HERMIT CRAB

Sallie Phillips, No 3 / 2002

Hermit crabs are abundant all over the world, both in intertidal and subtidal environments. Crustaceans from the family of paguridae, there are 600 or so species of hermit crabs of various colors and sizes.

All hermit crabs lack the armored covering over the hindmost part of their bodies that other crustaceans possess. The soft and vulnerable abdomen, which contains vital organs like the liver and gonads, of the hermit crab is unprotected so the crab keeps its hind section in a borrowed gastropod shell. Most hermit crabs prefer snail shells. Their abdomens are curved and asymmetrical to fit nicely into the spiral shape of snail shells. When threatened, the hermit crab will tuck its entire body into its shell home. Hermit crabs seldom leave their shell, but when they grow too big for their shells they need to find larger homes. It is called molting when they move to a bigger shell. The search for a new home is a challenge. The new shell must be the right shape and large enough to accommodate growth but not too heavy to tote around. The move to the new shell is done quickly since the crab is very vulnerable when totally out of its shell.

Most hermit crabs have one claw (cheliped) which is larger that the other. This is used, among other things, as a front door to the crab's home. The claw is molded into the shape of the opening of the shell to provide a good seal. This molding can only occur when the crab's claw is soft, which is during molting. This larger claw is on the right and it is used for defense and holding food. The left, smaller claw, which is a different shape, is used for climbing and getting food into the mouth. Both claws have pincers, with one moveable finger and one fixed. Hermit crabs are omnivores; they will eat almost anything and they are scavengers, scrounging for scraps along the water bottom. Most hermit crabs feed at night.

Hermit crabs have 4 antennae, which are used for sensing: 2 extending beyond the claws and 2 shorter than the eye stalks. There are 4 pairs of legs: 2 for walking and 2 to move the crab's body in its shell and remove waste and sand from the shell. The latter 2 pair of legs are concealed in the home shell except when the hermit crab molts. The 2 claws and 8 legs are called pereiopods and are so numbered on each side 1 through 5. If any of the hermit crab's legs are broken off, a new one will regenerate at the time it molts. As mentioned, the crab's lower body is curved and asymmetrical. Along the outer curve are pleopods, little appendages which help the crab to hold on to the inside of its shell.

Hermit crabs are sometimes seen dragging around another shell. Sometimes this is the next lodging, but sometimes it is a male dragging around a female. The male will pull along his future mate until she is ready to molt. That is the only time that she is receptive and the male can fertilize her eggs. The female hermit crab will lay thousands of eggs which will stick to her abdomen. She fans them with her pleopods which flushes oxygen-rich water over them. In about a week the eggs will hatch into free swimming larvae. After several molts the larvae start to search for shell homes and begin their adult lives. A very small percentage of the larvae make it to the adult phase, as they are prey to a large variety of marine life.

There are examples of symbiotic relationships between hermit crabs and other species. Often a colony of polyps grows on the surface of the hermit's shell and creates a rough layer over it. The polyps benefit from the crumbs of the hermit crab's meals and the hermit profit from the protection of the polyps' nettles. Sometimes the hermit will host sea-anemones, which have stingers, or sponges, which provide camouflage. When moving to a new shell the crab can also transplant its guests to the new home.

Of the hundreds of species of hermit crabs, most are marine creatures. There are a few that some or all of their time is spent on land.

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SHIFTING SANDS

Sallie Phillips, No 2 / 1996

The textbook description of a beach includes distinctions between the lower beach, middle beach, upper beach, primary dune and secondary dune.  But, the reality is, in many cases, along New York's Atlantic Coast there is precious little beach, period, and any dune is better than no dune.

Dunes are nothing more than unstable hills of sand which are the results of the combined action of wind and time.  Formed in the same way as snowdrifts, they build up when the wind, carrying sand, is slowed down by an obstacle such as a fence or driftwood and  deposits the sand on the leeward side.  Dunes can gradually increase in size if they are well anchored by vegetation or man-made barriers and kept undisturbed.  But, the same winds which create dunes will move them along to another location if they are left bare.  The winds during the recent winter tried to move the dunes of Jones Island onto Ocean Parkway.

Dune preservation and stabilization is a very difficult task in high use areas.  Grasses and other vegetation do an excellent job of trapping and keeping the wind-blown sand in place, but any traffic, even walking, can destroy the growth.  Save the Beaches Fund has conducted several beach grass, rugosa rose and bayberry plantings in barrier beach dunes, only to find wide swaths beaten down by the end of the beach season.  Babylon's D.E.C. Commissioner, Ron Kluesener, prefers a combination of snow fencing and Christmas trees to trap the sand and maintain the dunes.  Unfortunately, the snow fence is easily dismantled by beach-goers traipsing across the dunes.

STBF President, Mario DeLuca, recently back from North Carolina's outer beaches, has photos of Ping-Pong table-sized sand bags piled up seaward of the dunes.  Another technique he observed was large rubber mats applied along the dunes.  We've also heard of a sand-gel product which reputedly prevents dunes from blowing away.

The disappearance of dunes is a common problem in coastal areas all over the world.  Travelers report spotting "KEEP OFF THE DUNES" signs in many languages in many countries.  In most locales, natural plantings are a common method of dune preservation, but it's not an easy solution.  Plant species adaptable to the direct sun, strong winds, and fast draining environment are limited and take time to establish well.  And as previously mentioned, people trampling down the growth can create a blowout for sand in a fraction of the time it takes to establish a healthy stand of vegetation.

Is the solution fences, Christmas trees, sand bags, structures, mats, chemicals, education, signs, enforcement, or plantings?  Hopefully, the solutions lie therein; and hopefully, the necessary funds to solve the problems will be made available

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HOT SPOTS OF EROSION

Jeffrey Kassner, No 3 / 1993

reprinted from The Fire Island Tide with the permission of the author and the editor.

While the entire length of Fire Island experienced shoreline erosion during the December 1992 Nor’easter, on closer inspection we find that there are several areas in particular, Old Inlet, Water Island, Point O’Woods and Fair Harbor, that had a much greater amount of erosion compared to the rest of Fire Island.

Even several months after the storm, the beach in these areas had recovered less than the rest of the Fire Island shoreline.  This raises an interesting question, why are some areas of Fire Island “hot spots” of erosion?

The fact that some areas of Fire Island appear to be hot spots of erosion has important consequences for a beach restoration project.  Clearly, unless the hot spots together with their underlying cause or causes are addressed, then the chances of a beach restoration project being successful over the long term in these areas will be lessened to some degree.

For example, if the location of a future hot spot could be identified, it may be possible for the beach and dune system in that area to be built larger prior to its formation so as to reduce the amount of damage when it does form.  In addition, it may also be necessary to address the cause of the hot spot as well as the erosion at the site.  This will require that we understand the conditions that cause erosion hot spots to form, their behavior and dynamics once they form, and where they are likely to develop. 

There are two fundamental conditions that can cause hot spots to form: either the wave energy is greater than average in a localized area or there is a localized reduction in sand supply.  Increased wave energy means that more beach sediment can be eroded and carried away.  A reduction is sand supply will cause a sand deficit that can only be made up by increased erosion.  There are several coastal processes that can create these two conditions and they may not be the same for all hot spots. 

A “break in the offshore bar” is perhaps the most commonly invoked explanation of erosion hot spots.  The offshore bar is located 500 to 1500 feet off the beach and runs parallel to the shore.  It is located in about 20 feet of water and rises up from the bottom between 10 and 15 feet.  The offshore bar plays an important role in protecting the beach from wave damage because as waves pass over it, they lose some of their energy because of increased friction.  The less energy a wave has, the less erosion it can cause.  A break in the offshore bar means that waves can reach the shore at full strength and the wave energy will be focused over a relatively narrow area of shoreline.  A hot spot will thus form inshore of the break. 

There are several possible causes of breaks in the offshore bar.  During a storm for example, a large volume of water is pushed over the offshore bar and accumulates between the beach and the bar.  Once the water elevation has reached a critical height, gravity will force the water to flow back offshore over the offshore bar.  If the flow is concentrated in a small area of the bar, the velocity of the flow will be much greater than if the flow was spread out over the entire length of the bar and a channel through the bar will be scoured out.  The channel will provide unimpeded access for waves to strike the beach.  Further exacerbating the erosion of the shore line, the concentrated outgoing flow of water will cause additional amounts of sand to be carried offshore.

A second possible cause of a break in the offshore bar is that there are remnant channels of historic inlets across Fire Island.  Inlets scour out channels through the offshore bar that may persist even after the inlet has closed.  It has been will documented that inlets have opened and closed along the barrier beach and the hot spots may reflect their location or where their channels have migrated along the beach due to the longshore transport.

Historic inlets may also play a somewhat different role in hot spot formation.  The ebb tidal deltas (sand deposits in the ocean outside of an inlet) of the former inlets may provide a slightly greater supply of sand to localized areas of the beach.  These areas will have reduced erosion compared to the rest of the beach which then appear to be hot spots.  Ebb tidal deltas are located west of Old Inlet, and off Davis Park/Watch Hill and the Sunken Forest.

“Edge waves” have also been suspected as the cause of erosion hot spots.  Unlike breaking waves, whose crests are approximately parallel to the beach, the crests of edge waves travel along the shore.  Edge waves are not easily observed because they have a long period and wavelength and do not break as they travel.  When edge waves co-occur with incoming waves, a pattern of alternating higher and lower wave heights develops along the shore.  Wherever  wave heights are enhanced by the interaction, increased erosion will occur and create a hot spot.

There are also large scale differences in the erosion rate of Fire Island so that the entire west end can be considered an erosion hot spot relative to the east end.  Historically, the west end of Fire Island has a much greater rate of erosion than the east end.  From Democrat Point to just east of Ocean Beach, the rate of erosion is approximately 12 feet per year while for Ocean Beach to Old Inlet the rate is about 1.2 feet per year and there have been periods of both erosion and accretion.  From Old Inlet to Moriches Inlet the erosion rate is 2 feet per year. 

This east-west differential may be due either to differences in the orientation of the shoreline relative to incoming waves or the offshore bottom topography both of which can result in along shore differences in wave energies.  Although Fire Island is generally assumed to be straight and oriented in an east-west direction, it actually bulges seaward to the west of Old Inlet.  As a result, waves striking the beach west of Old Inlet are at a somewhat different angle to the shoreline than waves east of Old Inlet.  In addition, this bulge coincides with a seaward bulge in the 90 foot depth contour and because the 90 foot contour is further offshore, waves would have a greater distance over which to reorganize and gain energy.  Either of these two possibilities could be the cause of somewhat greater wave energies and hence erosion on the west end of Fire Island.

The pattern of erosion along the shoreline caused by the December Nor’easter does not appear to be unique to this storm.  For example, of the 125 homes damaged and destroyed by the Good Friday Nor’easter of 1962, which was, up until the December storm, the most devastating Nor’easter to strike Fire Island, nearly all were west of Fire Island Pines.  Most of the damage occurred in Fire Island Pines.  Point O’Woods and Dunewood to Seaview Fair Harbor escaped with two homes destroyed and six damaged.  This suggests the cause of the erosion hot spots may be a large scale geographic feature that is also stable over time.

There are several studies that could be initiated to develop a better understanding of Fire Island’s erosion hot spots.  One would be to conduct a bathymetric survey of the offshore bar to see if its bathymetry can be related to the location of the hot spots.  A second study would be to compare wave frequency and size in front of hot spots with non-hot spots areas.  A historical review of the location and movement of hot spots using aerial photographs may also yield useful information. 

Hot spots have one other, perhaps less apparent, implication for Fire Island and that is the determination of setbacks for development.  If the erosion rate for the entire beach is based on, or biased towards, what is occurring at hot spots, then the setbacks will be much greater than if the erosion rates in non-hot spots were used.  How the erosion rates in hot spots will be incorporated in establishing setbacks will be of considerable importance.

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UNDERTOW: A MISNOMER

Dennis Fanagan, No 3 / 1994

This article is not about saving beaches but about saving lives at the beach.

On May 31 the newspapers carried a story about a dreadful swimming accident the preceding day at a beach in Florida. An 11-year-old boy was having trouble getting back to shore, and three women and a man swam out to try to rescue him. All five of them drowned. According to the story, they had been caught in an undertow.

Such stories are a hazard to other lives. For most people the word "undertow" means a strong current that runs outward and downward all along a beach. You often hear people at the beach say: "There's a strong undertow today." But oceanographers who study waves and beaches will tell you that there is no such current, at least one that extends all along a beach.

How can this be? Practically everyone who goes into the water at the beach has at times felt an outward current they could swear was an undertow. But the current they feel is not an undertow. It is a rip current. The difference may seem just a matter of words, except for one important thing: a rip current is at most only a few yards wide. It does not extend all along the beach, running out to sea wherever you go into the water.

A rip current can be quite powerful when a strong surf is running. The best of swimmers can have trouble making headway when they swim directly into one. The important thing is that since the rip current is only a few yards wide, you can get out of it simply by swimming a few yards parallel to the shore. In fact, in a few yards you will often encounter an incoming current that will bring you back to shore all on its own.

What makes a rip current? If you look along a beach at the edge of the water, you will usually see that the beach is not flat. It undulates in a series of gently sloping hills and valleys. When waves break along the shore, the water tends to run back to the sea down the valleys, not the hills. This return flow is the rip current.

You can observe rip currents without danger in an ordinary surf. If the beach has an undulating contour, you can see that the water in an incoming wave tends to circle away from the hills and run down into the valleys. If you stand in shallow water at the seaward end of one of the valleys, you will feel the outward flow tugging at your ankles. If you walk a few feet parallel to the beach until you are standing just offshore from one of the hills, you will feel a much weaker outward flow, if you feel any at all.

It is sometimes said that words can kill. The five people who died in Florida, at least the four adults, probably believed that they were fighting an undertow, and when they tried to swim directly into the outward current, they lost the struggle. If they had known it was not a so‑called undertow but a rip current, they could have swum just a short distance parallel to the shore and saved their lives.

Dennis Flanagan is a science journalist

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WAVES

Sallie Phillips, No 4 / 1996

Whether you’re a surfer checking our the waves for the best ride or a beach walker just enjoying the relaxation of the steady movement, wave contemplation is an ageless pastime.  Fueled by sun and wind and shaped by the ocean floor waves are capable of inducing soothing meditation or devastation likened to a small nuclear weapon.  They can make a beach disappear overnight or create a new one in the next season.

While waves may interact with tides they have nothing to do with tides.  They are almost entirely the product of winds.  So-called “tidal waves” are caused by undersea earthquakes or landslides, not tides. 

When wind blows across the surface of water, friction causes ripples to form.

If the wind power is sufficient and prolonged, the ripples will develop into wave lengths that last at least five seconds.

As the newly formed waves leave the “fetch” (the area of open ocean over which wind blows), they become organized into even lines of “swells” that spread our with increasing speed toward the shore. 

Moving through the ocean, swells cause water particles at the surface to spin in a circular orbit helping to maintain the wave action.  As these water particles go deeper their orbit diameter decreases. 

Heading into shallower areas, the swells slow down and their wave length shortens.  The swells also grow steeper in height, as less water is available to fill in the crest and maintain a symmetrical shape.  The increasingly shallow bottom prevents the complete rotation of the circulating water particles and causes the waves to become unstable.  The peak up and break, crashing near the shore in a foamy surf.

While the Physics of coastal waves was understood by 19th Century scientists, it has only been in the last 50 years that scientists have studied waves in the wild, making measurements and recording observations. 

Predicting specific waves is virtually impossible.  Surfers and beachcombers may think they know what to expect, but there’s rarely a dependable sequence.  The ninth wave that’s always the biggest is a myth.  A killer wave may appear out of nowhere in a calm sea.  Almost any wave striking the beach is probably a combination of numerous waves.

Satellite tracking has greatly improved the capability to observe waves and make forecasts.  Still, waves and their random complexity are only partially understood, even by engineers designing jetties and shore protection plans.  One thing is predictable, however, each wave is slightly different from the last and there will always be another.

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BUTTS ON THE BEACH

Sallie Phillips, No 3 / 2000

I recall, in the good (?) old days that receptacles filled with sand were left in many public places for people to put out their burning cigarette butts.  Since stuffing something burning into sand instantly douses the light, it was an effective  means of cigarette disposal.  Obviously, many people still use the same method but on our wonderful beaches. Don’t we all know that anything left on the beach will someday end up in our rivers, bays or oceans?  We should!

Anyone who has ever participated in a beach cleanup can attest to the fact that cigarette filters account for a significant percentage of the non-biodegradable items collected from the beaches.  “Audubon”  reports that more that 800,000 cigarette butts were among the debris collected and counted in the United States during the 1999 International Coastal Cleanup Day.  And add that to the many collected and not counted.

Nowadays people, no longer allowed to smoke indoors, stand on curb edge and toss their butts onto sidewalks and into gutters.  These then end up in storm drains and eventually into our water ways.  Things carelessly tossed out of a car window, be they cigarette butts or plastic wrappers, as insignificant as they may seem, may eventually end up in our water ways or on our beaches. 

OK, why are these almost unnoticeable items so harmful when in our waterways?  These floatable bits, like candy wrappers, cigarette filters, remnants of Styrofoam cups, etc. look like food to seabirds, sea turtles, fish and marine mammals.  And, once these pieces get ingested they stick in the animal’s digestive tract or stomach and can lead to the animal’s death.  The debris can block the digestive tract, either directly or as a regurgitate mass, causing the animal’s demise.  Or, the non-food items ingested can cause a false feeling of fullness in the animal thus denying the animal the nutrients necessary for survival. 

In a survey, which was reported in “Audubon”, 92% of the respondents were aware that the health of the oceans affects them directly but only 14% knew that runoff from streets, parking lots, etc. accounts for most of the pollution in our oceans.  WE are the cause!  WE must be the solution! 

PLEASE PUT TRASH IN THE PROPER RECEPTACLES

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PLEASE!
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