Coconut Point Cleanup

KEEPING BREVARD BEACHES CLEAN
FOR LOVE OF PEOPLE 
AND ANIMALS

Low tide and high temperatures(83F 26C) greeted us at beautiful Coconut Point Park in South Melbourne Beach today.

If you're in the area any first Saturday of the month, consider joining the Sea Turtle Preservation Society for a beach cleanup at this location. They meet at 8am.  They even provide bags and gloves.  Help keep the beaches clean for the critters.

Flotsam Francais

Little piece of Canada in the Florida sand

Debris on the beach is bad for all involved, however, I did get  excited when Lee discovered this pizza car from Canada (my homeland).  I still remember the company's jingle from way back when I was a kid.. 9-6-7, 11 11, phone Pizza Pizza, heyy, heyy!

One of two totes, loaded to the gills

Great find!
Then there's the rest of the junk.  Two full totes of broken plastic, bottle caps and mystery trash along with 39 ft. of rope.
We broke the 1000 ft. mark!! We have now collected 1031 ft. of rope.  That's 343.66 yds. eliminated as an entanglement issue for marine animals.

Thanks for vsiting.
Merry Christmas, Happy Channuka, happy whatever you celebrate.


This holiday season,
Raise a glass
Drain your mug
Get to the beach
Give it a holiday hug

With hope and dedication these beaches will not
one day be covered in 'wall to wall' debris
 

Litter is a Triple Threat

KEEPING BREVARD BEACHES CLEAN

FOR LOVE OF PEOPLE AND ANIMALS

Rough seas have calmed and the plastic mass has been reclaimed by the ocean...
until the next uproar of waves.

Shelley and Lee ready to hug the beach

I find a lot of these
little foreigners 

Yesterday was the first day of winter but you would never know by our weather.  Today the temperature was about 80 F, 25 C.  Gorgeous Florida day, come visit if you can.

Fuzzy end of something

It was nice to see the beach looking pretty today.  Not a lot of trash but lots of shells. We went to a little spot in between Paradise and Canova and collected 5ft of rope, giving us a new total of 992 ft. or 330.66 yds.


Thanks for dropping by.  

Good shelling day

Triple Threat is right!
Left over fireworks.
(you should see after 4th of July, yipes!)

Plastic, Hmmm. Seemed Like a Good Idea At The Time

KEEPING BREVARD BEACHES CLEAN FOR 

LOVE OF PEOPLE AND ANIMALS

Christmas is coming!  Shopping, sewing, baking etc. has not allowed me as much time at the beach as I would like.


I did, however, do a beach cleanup yesterday with my son; today I flew solo.

Scotty, on the trail of trash.

Monday's cleanup was in Paradise,  Paradise Beach, Indialantic. Awww that sounds so nice and it is but of course all the usual yuck was there. It was  mild around 72 F, 21C. (I still wore a jacket) We made it to the beach as the sun was dimming.

always lovely to find one of these

We collected two tote bags full of all kinds of debris; lots of big plastic chunks.
 I'm sure between us we collected over 10lbs.  The rope count for the day was 37 ft. , elevating the rope total to 949 ft. or 316.33 yds.

Un-natural at the beach

Today I hit Ocean Ave. in Melbourne Beach.  Another sunset session and another day of big chunks of plastic.  It didn't take long to fill my tote. I dumped it and went back for seconds.  Leaving was difficult.  One more thing I have to get, one more thing I have to get. Finally my bag was becoming difficult to carry so I had to pack it in.  Walking past debris on the way to the boardwalk, I tried not to think of the harm it may bring.  I can't get it all.  I did collect 38 ft. of rope moving my total up to 987 ft. or 329 yds.  Moving in on another football field.


Thanks for checking in.


Jingle bells
Beach litter smells
Balloons have gone astray


Pick up your stash
of all your trash
and throw it all away
Hey!

(Yes, I know, it's bad)   County wide Beach Hug, March 24-April 1.  We can clean up the place to celebrate the beginning of Sea Turtle nesting season.  Interested? brevardcountybeachhug12@gmail.com

Parlez vous Francais?

You bet it's long lasting...
this sucker's gonna be on
the planet for ever!

Rings of death

Bowls, bottles, bins....

Plastic, hmmm.
Seemed like a good idea at the time

Litter To Curl Your Hair

KEEPING BREVARD BEACHES CLEAN

FOR 

LOVE OF PEOPLE AND ANIMALS

Spessard Holland Beach Access
Melbourne Beach

One of four totes filled

With a cool breeze and under grey skies, the ocean continued to crash and churn today, pushing unwanted

debris onto the sand.  

 Melbourne Beach was looking pretty junky.  We filled four tote bags with plastic of all shapes and sizes and collected 12 ft. of rope.  This brings the rope total to 912 ft. or 304 yds.

Looking up the beach I hated to leave.  Debris sitting on the sand was calling me.  Unfortunately, we can't get it all. 

Foreign motor oil container

More foreign flotsam

Not so pretty in pink

Thanks for dropping by.

Interested in a county wide "Beach Hug" cleanup?

Please contact me at brevardcountybeachhug12@gmail.com

Where ever you are

If you can read my 'speech'

Please take some time

To hug a beach

So much litter- it will curl your hair!

One for the- what the heck?- file

You're Not From Around Here Are You?

KEEPING BREVARD BEACHES CLEAN

FOR
LOVE OF PEOPLE AND ANIMALS

Today was the sort of day we could have used a crowd of 'Beach Huggers'. Rough seas brought  lots of big chunks of plastic onto the beach and spread it everywhere.

 We were met by a cool breeze at the Fifth Avenue boardwalk in Indialantic this morning. 70 F, 20 C.  Lee and I collected trash for about 45 minutes and filled 4 tote bags.

Throughout the mess we discovered 38 ft. of rope.  New total: 900 ft. or 300 yds. Wow! That is exactly three American football fields since I began recording my rope one month ago.

Dishwashing PASTE?
You're not from around here
are you?

Just needs a little TLC
Now if only I could find the other one.....

We had to mind
what we reached for.
These highly poisonous Man O' War
were all over.

Sometimes the best solution is in
removing  the pacifier.

Gratuitous puppy photo!
My girl 'Brooklyn'

~Spirula~
skeletal remains of
deep sea squid.
Always fun to find.

Hair Relaxer #6

Buoy on a stick.
Unhealthy snack,
covered with chew marks.

Thanks for checking out my latest Beach Hug.

Don't forget my county wide Beach Hug, between Sat. March 24 and Sun. April 1.
Email: brevardcountybeachhug12@gmail.com if you're interested.
Thanks.

From off the beach
I will lug
Trash in my tote
It's how I hug.

Asking Litter to Hang it Up

KEEPING BREVARD COUNTY CLEAN 

FOR

LOVE OF PEOPLE AND ANIMALS

S. Seventh St., Cocoa Beach, FL

Today the
rain kept us away from the beach, however, yesterday we ventured northward to Cocoa Beach  (home to 11 time surfing World Champion Kelly Slater, thank you very much!!). We don't get to the northern part of the county much so we thought we should "spread the love".

We find balloons of all kinds

Rain was all around but we were able to get in a good 45 minute  beach

cleanup.

Cocoa Beach has nice wide beaches.  The tide was out making the beach even wider.

Grounded chopper

Most  of the litter was trapped in the seaweed near the dunes so we stayed away from the water.

It was around 68 F, 19 C.

A bit chilly for us but summer for the tourists from North Dakota that we met;

Nice sharp shard,
OUCH!

10 F,  -12 C back home. Yipes.

Yeah! We removed another 50 ft. of rope yesterday.
The rope report total has grown to.........
862 ft or 287.33 yds.
The litter we collected was mostly small stuff today.  We each filled about half a tote bag before it rained on our parade.

Thanks for stopping by...

If litter at the beach
gives your heartstrings
a tug
                                                     befriend a beach
                                                    and give it
                                                    a hug

My guys, 
searching the seaweed

Asking litter to
"Hang it up"

Moi- Ms. Beach Hugger

Looking For a Few Good Beach Huggers

KEEPING BREVARD BEACHES CLEAN

FOR LOVE OF PEOPLE AND ANIMALS  

We chose a little beach access in South Indialantic this morning.

Lost sole

The ocean was more churned up than it had been during our last cleanup, which means more trash has been stirred up and brought in.  There was junk everywhere.

More malice from Haiti
I'm sure they get our
junk as well

In a rush?
Forget to brush?

The warm air was long gone, we braced ourselves against a chilly mid 60s breeze. (15-18C)
Yes, we are spoiled.

We were here for about an hour and we collected two tote bags full of debris.  We also had a record breaking rope collection.

Have no fear
 what you need
is here

We found 80 feet today! I couldn't believe it.  The stuff was all over the place.  The new total for rope is....812 ft. or 270.66 yds.  Sorry, that I don't know how to convert to metric.  However, I can tell you it is almost three American football fields.

Anyone interested in taking part in a county wide Beach Hug? I am beginning plans for such an event to take place over my son's school break.  March 24 - April 1 2012.  It is to be a relay cleanup that would cover all of Brevard Coutny Florida's beaches, from Sebastian Inlet going north.   Volunteers will choose a section and pass the torch, so to speak, (thank you for that Jay).  Please email me if you are interested in participating or sponsoring. brevardcountybeachhug12@gmail.com

Bracing against the cold
I don't know how we do it
LOL

Thanks for visiting.

Get out of bed,

Shake off the bugs.

Get to the beach

And give it some hugs.

A Sad Little Beach Hug

KEEPING BREVARD BEACHES CLEAN

FOR LOVE OF PEOPLE AND ANIMALS

You never know what the day will bring.  Today's beach cleanup began as usual.  A beautiful Florida day--80 degrees today--(25C) lots of plastic chunks and chips everywhere and a few young surfers taking advantage of the smooth rollers.  As we walked along I did notice there was more clear plastic than usual.

My partner in grime, Lee, ready to tackle
Satellite Beach

Moments before his passing

After about 20 minutes of taking in the beauty of the day and collecting as much trash as we could find, I noticed one of the surfers had left the water and was staring at something on the beach.  Lee and I approached him and saw that he was looking at a seagull in distress.  The bird couldn't hold his head up and there was a large bulge in his crop.  He was gasping and choking. I spent a year working at the Florida Wildlife Hospital on US 1 in Palm Shores and have handled lots of seabirds.  I had Lee remove his shirt to cover the bird's head, this makes picking up a bird much easier.  I have had a seagull clench down on one of my fingers before; OUCH! is really the only thing that comes to mind that I can print here.

 I dumped the trash from my tote bag into Lee's and covered the seagull with Lee's shirt then placed the bird as gently as I could into my tote bag.  Racing toward the hospital across the Pineda Causeway,  we hoped and prayed for the little guy.  The gull was calling out and moving around, his eyes were flickering. I hoped this was a sign that he stood a chance, although, I do know that  just before a bird dies they often have a burst of energy to make themselves appear healthier than they are.  This is to keep those of its own group at bay. Birds will work together to kill a dying bird to keep the attention of predators away from their group. 

I began to lose heart as his eyes slowed down and then closed halfway.  His beak opened wide and he stopped moving altogether.  He was gone.  Poor little guy.  I brought him into the hospital and talked with Sue, the hospital's director - I hadn't seen her in about 9 years and it was nice to see her; even though it was not a happy moment.  I hoped they could do a necropsy to see what had done the gull in.  Unfortunately government regulations and costs wouldn't allow it.  The attendant  felt his neck and said it was crunchy.  I'm not an expert by any means but my best guess is either a broken neck or plastic ingestion.  

Needless to say it was a somber end to our cleanup.  We did remove a good bunch of trash and three feet of rope. My new total is 732 ft. or 244 yds.
Thanks for dropping by.  Please visit

www.floridawildlifehospital.org and check out their website.  They do great things for critters.

Go hug a beach!

Getting to the heart
of litter

Part of the days haul