In my quest for plastic, in order to compare plastic content
on FL's east coast to its west coast, I visited Melbourne and Ft. Pierce on
October 19, 2013.
 |
| 2-quart jar filled with plastic, Ft. Pierce |
On a good note: Someone asked me if I was a biologist or other
type of scientist (I wish), and was genuinely interested in my project instead
of turtles.
 |
| Tiny piece of blue plastic inside small shell |
On a bad note: I'm half speechless and half need to wisely
consider my words in order to stay professional. I guess nobody felt like
cleaning up the two beaches during International Coastal Cleanup day? The high
tide line at both beaches was littered with plastic pieces ranging in size from
a grain of rice to the palm of my hand.
 |
| Barnacle on plastic debris |
Neither beach I had to travel far to fill a jar with plastic
pieces within the allotted hour time frame. I spent most of my time crawling
along the high tide line or on my knees picking through the washed up seaweed,
which was filthy and tedious work and I LOVED every nanosecond of it. Every
piece I picked up is one less piece that could possibly get washed back into
the ocean.
 |
| Resin Pellet |
At Fort Pierce, I actually
found a couple of resin pellets, as well as bottle caps from Haiti. However, I
also found pieces of spoons and entire toothbrushes, and I have a hard time
determining if pieces are from the North Atlantic garbage patch, cruise ships,
or lazy beachgoers that just leave trash behind. Nevertheless - no matter the
source-plastic on the beach and in the ocean is a problem.
 |
| "Brasserie Nationale d'Haiti S.A." |
Late observation: With the exception of Marineland, it seems
the further south I search on the east coast the more plastic I find, also, the more washed up seaweed
the more plastic content. I'm going to start measuring the width of seaweed
scatter on the high tide line as additional data.
"On a good note: Someone asked me if I was a biologist or other type of scientist (I wish)..."
ReplyDeleteHELLLOOOOooooo--the answer is...YES, you ARE a scientist!!!--and a darn good one!!! (the degree is merely an additional piece of evidence that hands nicely on your wall ;-)
On another note--from Haiti?--wonder if the Gulf Stream has anything to do with this?
DeleteAnother PS--the "...washed up seaweed" is referred to by marine scientists as wrack--the washed-up marine vegetation commonly defining the high-tide line.
ReplyDeleteA final PS--you might want to visit the IMES facebook page to view a special notice about you!!