Collection Report Aug 10-12, 2011

(It's already strange looking back to the pre-Irene world. We in Saco, Maine were spared the worst. My heart breaks for VT, upstate NY, New Jersey, and elsewhere. Yet, as I've fallen behind again in collection reports, I must revisit the lazy and carefree days of mid-August. They were interesting.)

I went to beach Wed afternoon, Aug 10 just to log some old debris in the "Debris Tracker" iPhone app (a must-have for all flotsamologists). But when I got there, this is what I saw:

What the hey?

Southern Maine, had gotten a little drizzle, a little gloom the previous week. But no storm or wind. So what on earth happened here?

Turns out, Downeast Maine got hammered by a major hailstorm (YouTube clip here) the week before, on August 2. Millions of chunks of ice pummeled coastal towns, as well as seaweed & kelp exposed at low tide. Normal currents then swirled the broken mass southward over the next week, until arriving in Saco Bay on Aug. 10.

And of course, an army of seaweed collects the ocean's tag-alongs before reaching shore again. A few examples:

Fishing rope on its way in

Lobster trap tag

Antifreeze bottle, repurposed

Another sewage treatment plant disc
from the March Hooksett, NH release!

Sadly, I didn't arrive with either the time or the bags to do a full cleanup. So I grabbed what I could, and made plans for a return. Which didn't happen until two days later, Friday, Aug. 12. By which time the scene had changed:

So much gone already

More than half the seaweed -- and its plastics -- had been dragged back out into the Bay, and then the wider Gulf of Maine. Maybe to beach again near, maybe far. Who knows?

Still, I did what I could, and collected what I could. And made a strinking haul. Here's Zone N:

249 finds:

• Building materials: 1
• Foam/Styrofoam: 29
• Fishing misc.: 43 (20 rope bits, 7 claw bands, 4 trap tags, 7 rope twine, trap hinge, bait plastic baggie, shotgun shell, bait bag, makeshift buoy #9739)
• Food-related plastics: 36 (bottle, 10 bottle caps, 14 food wrappers, 4 straw wrappers, 2 straws, 4 bits old cup lid, gum)
• Food-related metal/glass: 15 (2 cans, 2 bottles, 5 bottle caps, metal fork, 5 foil wrappers)
• Nonfood/unknown plastics: 52 (15 bags/scraps, 3 balloons, jug cap, 3 bandaids, 2 strappings, plug cover, Hooksett disc, 2 bits tape, plastic clamp, fitting, 10 scraps >1", 12 scraps <1")
• Cigarette filters/plastics: 56 (53 filters, 3 cigar tips)
• Paper/wood: 12 (9 paper scraps, 3 wood firecracker sticks)
• Misc./unique: 5 (tar/rubber chunk, cord, 2 flipflops, piece of fabric)

Much more of a winter "signature" on this debris. Just look at all the fishing debris! But an interesting mix. Because clearly there was plenty of local stuff:

Summer sunbather debris

As well as ocean-borne goods, like this makeshift fisherman's float.

#9739, I've got your antifreeze jug!

And then this:

Not local, not recent

That discolored and extra-brittle cup lid has a story to tell. Wonder where it started its journey. And when.

With that, on to Zone S:

53 finds:

• Building materials: 1 (tile)
• Foam/Styrofoam: 12
• Fishing misc.: 11 (3 rope, trap part, 3 claw bands, 3 shell waddings, 1 urchin tag)
• Food-related plastics: 5 (wrapper, 4 bottle caps)
• Food-related metal/glass: 1 (foil wrapper)
• Nonfood/unknown plastics: 20 (2 bags/scraps, caulk nozzle, yellow plastic lumber chunk, Liposan tube scrap, rubber sleeve, 2 wet-wipes jug lid bits, 2 firecrackers, 1 scrap >1", 9 scraps <1")
• Cigarette filters/plastics: 3
• Paper/wood: 0
• Misc./unique: 0

Must have been a big event to raise Zone S's finds above 50 for a week! And as proof of some long distance travel, a couple fascinating finds:

Faint "Oct 24" written in. What year?

Still want to find out how long
it takes barnacles to form on plastic

So, a very "wintery" collection on a very summery week. And yet more proof of three things: (1) What happens 150 miles away doesn't stay 150 miles away; (2) The Gulf of Maine is a plastic wasteland, 365 days a year; (3) The ocean is trying hard to rid itself of our debris. It will get clean again, if we stop force-feeding it.

Can we do that?

Collection Report Nov 4-11, 2010

So early November was a tricky one for a Flotsam Diarist. Fun fact: Novembers in Maine are kind of cold, windy, dreary, and rainy! I tried to hit the beach on Nov 4, but the wind and rain chased me off after only a few minutes. All I accomplished was a quick scan of the high-tide line for the obvious bits.

I managed to get out for a few more minutes on Nov 7. As you can see, nature had been busy scouring the sands.

The cleanest of slates

My daughter came along too, carrying her own special bit of flotsam - her new favorite yellow shovel, rescued from the beach in August.

Flotsam Diarist 2.0 beta

As the attire shows, November 7 also wasn't an ideal collection day. Plus, a 3-year-old doesn't really have that kind of patience. So on to November 8. Which started interestingly enough:

Ooh, little bit of rope

Or not so little

You just never know

And after this moment, what would happen? Yes. More rain.

But finally, November 10 was... well, it was cloudy, 41 degrees, and insanely windy. But for an hour, it actually wasn't raining. So I finally got in the full walk.

The proof is in the footprints; all mine (OK, except the dog's)

So this is a slightly unorthodox collection report, from a slightly unorthodox two weeks. Here's Zone N.

67 finds:

• Building materials: 8 (7 slats, one post end)
• Foam/Styrofoam: 12
• Fishing misc.: 10 (2 buoy bits, 1 lobster trap entry net, 4 rope scraps, 2 long bits of twine, 1 shotgun shell wadding)
• Food-related plastics: 8 (inc. banged-up coffee lid scrap and very eroded plastic/foil scrap)
• Food-related metal/glass: 5 (1 can, 1 can scrap, 3 bits of sea glass)
• Non-food/unknown plastics: 15 (inc. shovel, hard solid plastic rod/fitting, balloon scrap, 5 bits of plastic bags, central webbing from bandaid
• Cigarette filters/plastics: 4 (3 locals + 1 floater)
• Paper/wood: 3 (1 swiffer cloth, 1 dryer sheet, 1 Dubble Bubble wrapper)
• Misc./unique: 2 (Buzz Lightyear balloon, golf tee)

Some usual suspects. And one not so usual.

To Infinity and...

This collection's biggest haul by mass was fishing gear.

Wish I had the whole buoy #

Here's a closeup of that contraption (part of a lobster trap, it turns out) that was mostly buried in the sand:

Not part of a Lady Gaga costume

And my current nemesis, styrofoam:

Same colors show up week after week 

Unlike last week, Zone S didn't produce much of note, except an abraded lobster trap tag from 1999.

25 finds:

• Building materials: 5 (asphalt chunk, 4 fence slats)
• Foam/Styrofoam: 5
• Fishing misc.: 4 (3 bits of rope, 1 trap tag)
• Food-related plastics: 0
• Food-related metal/glass: 2
• Non-food/unknown plastics: 7
• Cigarette filters/plastics: 2 (1 local, 1 floater)
• Paper/wood: 0
• Misc./unique: 0

All in all, the finds are still across the spectrum, and are still coming from local drops, blow-ins, and wash-ins. (The latter two more than the former now, which makes sense.) And the cigarette count remains utterly collapsed -- a welcome sign, but one that's making me rethink some of my assumptions.

This was a period of biting wind, drizzling -- sometimes pouring -- rain, and shifting sand. The slope of the beach is changing, but in ways I wasn't quite expecting. Close to the water, it's eroding fast. But close to the dunes, new sand has been dumped. The beach is becoming steeper, and every week the contours change. As shown by the lobster trap/rope, the surprises are there. Just biding their time. What will the next report bring?

Collection Report Oct 7, 2010

As promised, the collection report from October 7. From my first steps on the beach, I knew the majority of my finds were going to be fence slats. I just didn't know how many:

Zone N

Zone S

But even with roaring waves & brutal winds, there were plenty of other goodies as well. Here's Zone N:

252 finds:

• Building material: 104 (fence slats)
• Foam/Styrofoam: 50 (!!)
• Fishing misc.: 9 (6 bits of rope, two trap tags, 1 lobster trap, heavily bashed)
• Food-related plastics: 6
• Food-related metal/glass: 5
• Non-food/unknown plastics: 28 (inc. balloon, piece of another balloon, "Tattoo" tag, white bow, happy face, umbrella base, and a bandaid)
• Cigarette filters/plastics: 41 (25 local & 16 floaters)
• Paper/wood: 4
• Misc./unique: 5 (quarter -- who says this doesn't pay??, firework bit, 2 blobs of candle wax, half of plastic recycling tub washed in from New Brunswick, Canada)

Couldn't quite believe how many scraps of styrofoam I kept finding. Everywhere I looked, more little balls of polystyrene hiding amid the kelp, or down in some tiny hollow where the wind couldn't reach them.

Foam mix-and-match

Plus, of course, all the usual suspects...

Banner day for misc. plastics

On to Zone S:

186 finds:

• Building material: 133
• Foam/Styrofoam: 25
• Fishing misc.: 5 (3 buoys/buoy scraps, 2 bits of rope)
• Food-related plastics: 3
• Food-related metal/glass: 1 (rotted scrap of aluminum can)
• Non-food/unknown plastics: 10 (inc. two toggles, balloon scrap, magazine packaging?)
• Cigarette filters/plastics: 8 (2 local + 3 "floaters" + 3 cigar ends)
• Paper/wood: 0
• Misc./unique: 1 (half of a Zodiac XDC deepwater inflatable boat -- not brought home!)

The foam frenzy of Zone N carried (unshockingly given the wind) through Zone S. It brought polystyrene bits both small, and not so small.

More foam fiesta -- trending blue in Zone S

Some storm ripped rope straight thru yellow buoy

All told, on October 7 I collected 438 pieces of debris. Even taking out the 237 bits of fencing, the rest of the numbers are still topsy-turvy from the height of summer: almost no food plastics, compared to 75 bits of foam & styrofoam. On the other hand, there were constants too: the ever-present cigarette, the colorful scraps of plastic that were all once intended to make life a little brighter, easier, more interesting.

When I started this so many months ago, I never really expected to find half a boat. But I find that little surprises me anymore. If man has made it, a specimen of it is probably in the sea, right now. Just waiting to surface again when the time is right.

All more proof that a beach without sunbathers is still daily visited by the waste of the modern world.