Tuesday, October 25, 2011

No picnic at the beach ...

So, dear friends, have you heard about the millions of tons of debris from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March that is out in the Pacific and headed for the West Coast.

A swirling mass of marine litter!  Sounds like it could be up to three years before California starts seeing some of it.  Apparently much of it will be plastic, a continued threat to our marine life.  But according to experts, the amount of tsunami debris still pales in comparison to the litter that is dumped into oceans on a regular basis.

It saddens me to think of the ways we abuse this beautiful planet.


When we were in Florida recently, we evidenced the impact of litter from thoughtless people.


See these beautiful terns.  They are majestic, aren't they?



Look close at this little guy.  He has either swallowed a hook or part of it is caught in his wing.  He kept struggling with the wire that looped from his mouth to his wing.




The Professor and I were the only ones on the beach for sunset and we tried ever so hard to catch him but he kept walking out of our reach or attempted short bursts of flight.  We eventually gave up and left him alone.  He was soon left behind when all the other hundreds of birds flew away as dusk sunk deeper.  Eventually, he was out of our sight.  But not out of our minds.

: : :


(This next series of photos is PG 13 ...
just in case you have a little one sitting beside ya!)

: : :

A few days later, we happened upon this seagull.

When I first saw him, he was intent on picking something up. 


As I drew nearer, I could see what he so proudly was claiming!  A condom!

Oh, my goodness! Do you suppose he is practicing safe sex???



I tried to run him down and collect his prize, but he was having none of it.



As funny as it was to see him with his catch, the sad part is that either he or some other bird is going to consume it, which will eventually lead to their death.

Just so wrong.

And don't even get me started on drilling in the Gulf!!!

Okay, I better sign off now before I begin swearing. All that floating debris out there got me worked up!

: : :

Let's part on something more pleasant ....



Like this view!

Promise to be back tomorrow and be more pleasant.
Until then, dear friends,


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