Walk #10

Arrived at the beach a little early and waited for a few minutes before starting out. Walking out the boardwalk you could see a little pink light on the horizon and feel cool wind blowing. We had only taken a few steps before we started seeing trash to pick up. It was a holiday weekend so that brought a lot of visitors to the Light House Beach. I think this year they must have thought……this being the home of the free; they were free to leave their trash wherever they pleased.

I nearly stumbled over something that looked like a sand sculpture of an alien with one big eye in the middle of its head. After that we saw a little kiddies, air filled pool, it was bright colored with a cover built into it to shade about 2/3 of it. There was water in it and a beach ball was floating around in it. We probably should have emptied it and carried it to the dumpster, but it was new and so cute. We put a tag on it saying it should be removed, thinking maybe the owner was at Island Beach Club and would come back to pick it up today.




The sound of the waves was very relaxing this morning as we watched for the sunrise. There were only a few people out this morning; one lady with a bag was searching for shells and another was jogging.







We saw a lady walking out from the light house area, just as we spotted another pile of trash under a tree. She came over to us as we stopped to bag it up, and offered to carry it back out with her as she went back and throw it in the dumpster. Thank goodness because that was really going to make our trash bags heavy! Just after that we found two beach towels soaking wet and full of sand.




Very near one of the houses beside the light house, we found the new nest. The beach is not very wide there, so if a storm goes through or there is an extra high tide, it will certainly be in danger. That was the third nest in our zone. All three of them looked fine today. Gary is wondering why there is a pink tape around this nest, as opposed to the normal yellow one. Is this perhaps a different kind of turtle that nested? I doubt it, but don't know, he has sent an email to ask and will post the answer when we get it.

Got our answer.......The pink tape has no special meaning, other than the Permittee must have run out of yellow tape. There has been one Green Turtle nest reported on the west end of the island though. :-)



Just as we rounded the tip of the island, the sun was coming up. A young couple was out in the water taking pictures of each other with the sunrise in the background. We turned to walk around the bushes by the water’s edge, and then carried two bags of trash to a dumpster. As we walked on through the small picnic area, there was a photographer standing there taking pictures of the sunrise too.
















Just after getting back on the beach there were two watermelon rinds sitting under a bush. Guess someone had a little snack.



Several people were on the fishing pier this morning, as well as several people fishing from the shoreline. Two different pairs of boys were using casting nets to gather bait. As we walked around the boardwalk, a policeman was walking out to the dock; I suppose making his rounds this morning.



Just after the fishing pier, we were met by birds again, as usual.







A green swimming ring with little fogies on it was lying on the sand. It seems to me that the little kids are losing all their beach toys. A little further on, we found another pair of leather slip on shoes.



We passed a little camp area, right by the water, where fishing lines were set, lawn chairs, a grill, lounge chair with a girl sleeping in it, a small tent with a child sleeping inside, big cooler and other things were scattered about. On down the beach a little further, two guys were out in the water with a cast net and birds were trying to get the small fish before they could. That was a comical sight.
We got back to Buttonwood, really hot and tired from lugging trash. One bag was so heavy that it took us both to carry it. It completely filled up the trash container near the street. The view looking up the street was a welcomed sight this morning! I slowed down to take a picture of some pretty blooming flowers at the entrance to the Sea Horse Cottages. I also took a picture of a plaque that is there because I am wondering what it means. Maybe one of you can tell me. ???

One more picture of flowers and then we crossed Periwinkle and on to the end of Buttonwood, where we started. I looked back the other way once again, because it seemed so far today from one side to the other.







We were really beat today, but it was a beautiful walk anyway and we’ll be anxious for our next turtle walk!




Did you know?

Nests are often lost to predators such as raccoons, dogs, ghost crabs, sea birds and ants as well as to shoreline erosion and human interference. Hatchlings are preyed upon by mammals, sea birds, crabs and carnivorous fishes. Predation continues to be high until the turtles are big enough to avoid being swallowed by large carnivorous fishes. Sharks are a formidable predator throughout the life cycle of sea turtles, although larger turtles can often avoid a shark attack by presenting the flat side of the plastron or carapace to prevent biting.