Save the Beaches Educational Program
STUDENT ESSAYS FALL 2007
Save the Beaches
Educational Program
STUDENT ESSAYS FALL 2007
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Bud Maaser from STB was on hand to make the presentations to the 6 finalists.
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Jack Kresek – Mrs. Gillespie’s Class |
Garbage thrown on the beach or in the water can harm water animals the most. Water animals are harmed by trash and by dirty water. When people pour motor oil down storm drains, it goes into the ocean and can kill the fish because if they breathe it in it will poison them causing them to get sick and die. When fish die they don’t eat the dead things that hurt the environment.
Boating hurts water animals. In Florida, Manatees get hit by boats and can get part of their fins chopped off. They cannot move in the water and wind up on the beach and die. Why does this happen? Manatees get into large ports where they are not supposed to go. Boating also hurts water animals because people throw things in the water like 6 pack holders which can get caught around fishes’ necks and choke them to death.
Fishing hurts water animals when people cast out their lines and the lines get caught on a shipwreck. They then cut the line and the fish and crabs can get caught in it. The fish can not get out of the line and can not hunt for food so they wind up starving and eventually die. Fishermen sometimes keep small fish they catch and do not get caught by local authorities; this has to stop, the fish population is going down!
Other problems include sea turtles getting caught in fishing nets. The turtles try to tear themselves out of the nets and wind up floating with the current and usually get beached. Off shore dumping is also a large problem when people dump anything off a boat in medium amounts. This harms water animals because some of the pollution can cause red tide. The red tide is a tide that takes the oxygen out of the water and causes water animals deaths. Other reasons offshore dumping is wrong is it might poison the fish and sick fish caught by humans means sick humans and that’s not good at all. What will we blame if water animals start dieing in large amounts, we will blame off shore dumping?
Nature is about harmony and balance. It is everything in the world that is not made by people, such as plants, animals and the weather. Trash is usually made up of man made things. If trash is allowed to pollute the beaches and water, then living things would become extinct, and the food chain could no longer exist. Animals, plants, fish, wildlife and insects depend on the earth, the sand, the soil and the beaches to survive. Animals need plants and fruit. Trash kills plants, contaminates water, harms animals, fish and insects, all of which need each other to survive.
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Corinne Figoski – Mr. Rossi’s Class |
Hello, my name is Corinne Figoski and today I went to Cedar Beach. I had a fantastic time, but the thing that upset me the most was the amount of garbage that I and my friends found and picked up.
There was mostly sharp glass that we were picking up, but many other things like canes, a shoe, plastic, paper, and bottles. It was just awful. I was mostly thinking about land animals. It was sad because some hungry animals think that it is food and may eat it, even though it is bad for them.
I love animals but then I did not like bad people. I started to think that the animals most harmed by the litter were the land animals. There are deer, rabbits, rats, and sand crabs that are affected by garbage on the harmless beach. They eat whatever they can find on this harmless beach. If they see a dirty napkin, they will eat it; choke and become very sick or may die.
I hope you understand why I am writing this. My friends and I picked up garbage and measured it. The total garbage we gathered weighed 25 pounds. We were very happy about cleaning and helping the environment. I believe that we should do our part in making the beach a cleaner and healthier place for all the animals that live there. There is now a $250.00 fine for leaving your garbage on the beaches, so please do not litter!
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John Larsen – Mrs. Chatterton’s Class |
The land animals are the most harmed because people just leave their garbage on the beaches. Sometimes birds choke on the plastic bags or on cigarettes. I would throw my garbage away and not on the beach. If I find garbage on the beach when I go to the beach again, I will pick up garbage if I see any but I won’t go in the dunes.
I would go to the beach and clean it every year. I would go to the Great South Bay and go on a boat and clean out the bay. I like helping nature and its surroundings. If I see a person littering I go and tell them not to litter.
The second thing I think that is harmed is the water animals in the ocean and in the bay. If I worked at a beach I would go and clean the beach once a week. I like fish not to eat but to keep as a pet. I like to help out and help the environment.
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Claudia Weldon – Mr. Tordy’s Class |
Many people like animals. Animals, like humans, play a very big role in the world. We also help them play that role, having veterinarians, going vegetarian, and more. Water mammals are among popular animals, and some live at Cedar Beach. A few days ago, my class, along with Mr. Rossi’s and Mrs. Chatterton’s class went to Cedar Beach and Cedar-Overlook. We went fishing, met Bay Constables, and went clamming and seining at Cedar Marina, and learned about shore dynamics and more at Cedar Beach. Finally we picked up trash, and weighed the bags of debris. We felt good, and we were doing good things.
The topic I chose was animals. Some are living right at Cedar, such as fish, crabs, sand crabs, clams, and last year, there was a dolphin sighting. You can’t see the clams at Cedar Beach but you can at Cedar Marina. The men who seined with us collected clams, looked at them closely, and threw them back into the water. Sand crabs are found most. Nobody found one when we went to Cedar Beach, but that’s okay.
Pollution hurts the animals, and we found lots of pollution at Cedar Beach. Some washed up on shore, some lying on the ground. Beer bottles’ crushings, cigarettes, and beer caps were some of the pollution on the sand dunes. Much of the pollution was on the dunes. Everyone went deeply into them to search. Quite a few animals live on the dunes or can climb up there. If they ate the debris or got tangled in it, there would be a good chance the animal would die.
My group and I liked the fact that we were helping doing something that needed help. Lots of kids felt good. We’d consider going back and cleaning up again. Even though animals are very different from us, they can teach us lessons. If we live in contact with nature and help clean beaches, better things will happen to us. But if we act lazy and lay around watching TV, nothing good will really happen. Save our beaches, and do it for those small helpless creatures, which depend on us and teach life’s lessons.
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Brittney Bendik – Ms Mielenhausen’s Class |
Our beaches are being ruined. People are littering and don’t care about the animals. Animals like dinosaurs can become extinct. Most animals like the Giant Panda are endangered. We need to stop littering. Our waters are filled with oil and garbage.
Animals can be protected and saved if we stop littering. Land animals are eating the garbage that is not properly disposed of. The soda rings are especially dangerous. The birds think the soda rings are jellyfish. They are trying to eat the soda rings, which causes them to die. Would you be upset if you saw a dead animal? Would you then realize that we are killings the animals?
Water animals are another group being affected. We should have enclosed garbage boats so the trash does not fall into the water. The creatures living in the water are eating our garbage and dying. When I was with my grandfather in the Poconos I saw dead fish on the boat slips. It makes me sad to think that some one from that neighborhood caused this to happen.
Dunes are an important part of our beaches. A dune is a hill of sand that protects the beaches from erosion. Plants grow on these hills which hold the sand in place. If we keep on littering we will destroy all the dunes. Garbage will kill the plants and erosion will destroy the beaches. Many of our wildlife also make the dunes their home. Therefore if we destroy the dunes we will also be ruining the homes of animals that live there.
In conclusion I think that laws need to be enforced. People who litter should get a ticket. We should be allowed to have a ‘GARBBAGE CLEAN UP’ every week at schools and beaches! Every beach should be like Cedar Beach. Thanks to the SAVE THE BEACHES program, we are saving Cedar Beach.
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Lauren Augello – Mrs. Zwerlein’s Class |
Garbage hurts plant life. Garbage hurts plant life because when people litter garbage it damages the plants. If the plants get damaged there will be no plants for the animals to use as a habitat. The animal can become an endangered species, and so can other beach life.
Without littering many species can go on for generations. Not only are plants a habitat for animals, they can also be food to many animals. Some animals are rabbits, turtles, and dune mice. Also the beach plants supply oxygen, and if there were no plants the animals would die.
Please don’t pollute or it will hurt the plants, the animals, and maybe the future.
Be careful what you’re doing you may harm the environment!!
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