Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Saving the harbor one bag at a time!


It began with a normal day at Courageous Sailing Center in Charlestown with the sun blazing its UV rays down on the energetic children eager to get the day started from swimming at the Y to fishing down by the pier with us! We were joined by fellow fisherman who shared their captures with us and allowed the kids to play with the cool crabs they managed to pull out of the sea. As we got started in the afternoon, the tide was lower than usual which came as a surprise to many of the children. The low tide still did not affect their drive to catch their first fish and for some their second or even third! As the the day went on, the tide slowly rose. The children began to notice trash washing up by the pier. It was a sad sight to see this trash floating in our harbor. It takes 500 years for a trash bag to biodegrade in the ocean. If it takes that long for just one bag, imagine two or maybe ten bags! That is 5000 years!
One less bag in our beautiful harbor!
After I caught the first bag, I set off on a mission to snatch as much trash out of the water as I could. Soon my co-workers joined me in my efforts to clean the bay the only way our tools would allow us. We found ourselves fishing for trash utilizing what little we had for the fight against polluted waters. I have to admit saving the harbor was loads of fun. This mission put our casting skills to the test and I do not mean to brag but I caught that bag my first try (Quick flex), no big deal. Fun Fact: it takes an apple core 3 months to biodegrade in salt-water. Go ahead, let that sink in, I was just as surprised.

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