Collection Report Nov 17, 2010

A chilly and rainy week. But the clouds finally broke briefly in the early afternoon of November 17, so off to the beach I went.

Surf's up

The ocean was still all worked up from the various storm systems that had passed through. There were even whitecaps out on Eagle Island, a little spur of rock and grass 1 1/4 miles offshore.

A rare sight

So it was with some surprise (relief?) that this particular outing brought in a fairly small haul. Though, as always, a couple eye-openers. For one thing, if there had been any doubt before about the source of all the shotgun shells and wadding I'd been finding, this dispelled it.

What -won't- a barnacle grow on?

For another, Mother Nature had managed to cart up a curious 3ft x 2ft chunk of fiberglass.

Bathtub surround?

On to the report. First, Zone N:

35 finds:

• Building materials: 3
• Foam/Styrofoam: 12 (mostly the backing from the bathtub surround)
• Fishing misc.: 4 (2 bits of rope, 1 barnacle-encrusted shotgun shell, 1 buoy scrap)
• Food-related plastics: 8 (inc. freshly dropped chocolate milk bottle)
• Food-related metal/glass: 1 (beer bottle scrap)
• Non-food/unknown plastics: 3 (grocery bag scrap, bit of pink ribbon, bandaid)
• Cigarette filters/plastics: 3 (2 local + 1 bit of plastic wrapper)
• Paper/wood: 0
• Misc./unique: 1 (fiberglass panel with foam backing)

Except for the fiberglass panel, a dull day in Zone N. Which is fine by me. Next, Zone S:

15 finds:

• Building materials: 3
• Foam/Styrofoam: 2
• Fishing misc.: 2 (buoy scrap and strand of rope/line)
• Food-related plastics: 5
• Food-related metal/glass: 0
• Non-food/unknown plastics: 2
• Cigarette filters/plastics: 1 (floater)
• Paper/wood: 0
• Misc./unique: 0

A grand total of 50 pieces of debris. First I thought, "Wow, that's great news." Then it struck me... A small stretch of 40-degree beach, almost deserted for a month, pelted & churned by rain, and I'm excited that only 50 pieces of trash were visible? How low have I set the bar?

Then again, it is nice to be able to spend a little time enjoying nature, rather than stooping down every few seconds. You see things you normally wouldn't. Like the way a tide line can smooth out the pockmarks of an autumn storm.

Look ma, no debris

Or the way a saturated shoreline creates its own network of rivulets that branch back toward the sea. Ever toward the sea.

A tree grows in Bay View

So. Is this what's in store for the many frosty weeks to come? Or was this clean beach an anomaly, a one-off? What will next week's collection report tell? Turn the page... But I will give you one hint. That bit of fiberglass? It wasn't from a bathtub surround.