It was so amazing seeing the teeny tiny baby sea turtles make their way to the ocean... and being there to witness this event solidified even more how important what we are doing really is...
One of my favorite sites for learning about sea turtles is SEEturtles.org. If there was anything you ever wanted to learn about sea turtles... that's the place to go :) By the way... did you know?
It's estimated that only 1 in 1000 sea turtle hatchlings will make it to adulthood. (...whatever it is that we can do to help them make it to adulthood... I feel like it's our responsibility to do so.... "No thank you plastic _______.")
Hatchlings use the natural light horizon along with the white crests of the waves to reach the water when they emerge from the nest. Any other light sources such as beachfront lighting, street lights, car lights, camera flashes, etc can disorientate the hatchlings and send them in the wrong direction. (That's no bueno!)
Sea turtle hatchlings have a long road to adulthood... the moment they emerge from the nest, they have natural predators-- ghost crabs, birds, dogs, raccoons, fish, etc-- to scoot and swim past. ...And once they make it... they now have to contend with deciphering between what is edible food and what is our completely unnatural toxic trash. (Only WE can change that.)
Rewinding a bit: On Thursday evening, we met our friend Sean with the Surfrider Foundation at Wrightsville Beach Town Hall with all 33,989 cigarette butts we've collected off of Wrightsville Beach. Sean presented to the Board of Aldermen about micro-litter (specifically cigarette butts) on WB. He ended with asking the board to revisit the idea of banning smoking on the beach...
Only time will tell what the board decides to do with the information that Sean presented to them. In the meantime... we'll still be heading out to Wrightsville Beach... doing 20 minute clean ups and counting cigarette butts.
20 minutes on September 9, 2011 at Access 36
Cigarette butts: 193
Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 98 days:
34,182
What an incredible experience! My daughter loves turtles, and it's these real-life connections that build respect for the planet in all of us. Great post!
ReplyDeleteExcerpt from my one act play:
ReplyDeleteJOEY: [Barely waiting for Sarah to finish] The beaches in North Carolina go on and on and on farther than from here to school. Aunt Danielle and I saw wild dolphins swimming so close we could almost reach out and touch them as we swam in the ocean. We helped a sea turtle that was trying to dig a hole in the sand for her eggs. She had a piece of plastic tangled around her, binding one leg-we cut and removed the plastic. There were giant birds; I think Aunt Danielle said they were albatross or pelicans, sailing just inches above the waves. We picked up litter off the beach so birds and fish wouldn’t die from eating the trash. Oh and I almost forgot, there was a harbor seal and a sea otter and-
Read the rest of the play at www.litterwithastorytotell.blogspot.com
Bernie