It’s really nice to visit a new coastline… especially one that does not have much in the way of litter. As was the case with my recent experiences on several of the coastlines in NW Washington State. There was no sand, like in Fort Lauderdale, but small pebbles and lots of driftwood. No Raker to turn under the wrack. Instead the natural wrack was left. It supported all sorts of natural wildlife and death. My take on the featured image is that the birds ate the soft crab body inners and left the harder to open claws. My grand niece enjoyed checking out the remains of one such crab. That particular photo was taken as we waited for the ferry that would take us to a small island where we explored a much longer and more open coastline… all part of the Puget Sound. During the half hour walk with my family I only encountered one very small piece of trash, it was a plastic object and I’m not sure from whence it came. It was pale amber piece, ridged on both sides. My guess is that the object had been at one time rectangular in shape. What I held in my hand was nearly an oval, speaking to the longevity and “life” span of the object. I could only guess as to how many years it had been on the shoreline, slowly changing form.
The day was beautiful and a drive around the island after the walk on the shore netted stunning views of Mount Baker, rising high above the neighboring lower mountains in Washington State.
The flight home from NW USA included a fly-by of Mount St Helens. I was living in Seattle at the time she blew and remember waking up with the sounds and vibrations of the cataclysmic event.
Mother nature and her power expressed. At times she moves incredibly fast, and other times super slow…. as the breaking down of plastic in her environment.
How many more years will it take us to convince the plastic industry to completely reformulate their products to mitigate the harmful effects on sea-life, thus being more in alignment with nature, finding uses for everything in all its various stages. Contemplate on that.
