ST. PETE BEACH, FL — A Largo nature lover is delivering a graphic message about the dangers of litter on the beach through a series of photos she took at St. Pete Beach.
While photographing the black skimmers, a type of seabird that nests each summer on Gulf beaches, Karen Mason captured some disturbing images of a mother skimmer trying to feed her newborn chick a discarded cigarette butt.
The mother bird most likely mistook the cigarette butt for one of the silver-white minnows in the Gulf that serve as the birds’ main source of food.
Mason said the photos serve as a compelling illustration of how any litter, no matter how small, can threaten wildlife.
It’s something the rescue team at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium knows all too well.
The aquarium’s rescue team responds to sick, injured and deceased marine animals reported along the west coast of Florida in the Pinellas, Hillsborough, Hernando, Pasco, Citrus and Levy counties.
The team composed of stranding coordinator Abigale Stone, senior rescue biologist Kerry Sanchez and rescue biologists Chuck White and Jamie Knaub, with the help of interns and more than 100 trained volunteers, have rescued countless marine animals who have eaten or become entangled in litter including fishing line, plastic straws and plastic water bottles.
Among the animals the team has rescued is a critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle with the unlikely name Donkey Kong.
Donkey Kong was rescued June 13, 2018, after fishing line attached to a marked buoy became wrapped around his flipper. When marine veterinarians examined him, they discovered he’d also ingested part of a plastic balloon. He is continuing to rehabilitate at the aquarium.
More recently, the rescue team was called to help rescue a bottlenose dolphin calf near Englewood in March. The young male was seen over several weeks in Lemon Bay with fishing line and gear wrapped around his body and tail, and through its mouth.
The entanglement was significant, with fishing line cutting around a third of the way through each of the calf’s fluke blades (two sides of the tail). Fishing line was also in the calf’s mouth, cutting into the gum tissue in his upper jaw.
Once located, the calf and mom were both secured in a net, so they wouldn’t be separated. When the calf was freed of the debris, they were both released back into the bay.
“The pair swam off looking good and strong, emitting sounds like whistles as they went on,” said Sanchez. “It was a successful, collaborative effort that CMA was proud to have been a part of.”
Sanchez said these examples serve as a reminder of how the most innocently discarded items can become a hazard to wildlife.
“On average, it takes about 600 years for monofilament to break down,” she noted.
Many fishing piers have added monofilament disposal containers to make it easier for anglers to throw away their used fishing line.
As for the prevalence of butts on the beach, activists have been lobbying to create smoke-free beaches in Florida. A bill was proposed during the 2019 legislative session by Republican state Sen. Joe Gruters of Sarasota to ban smoking on beaches. While it failed to pass this year, supporters say they plan to take up the torch again in 2020.
Donkey Kong is now recovering at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.
Click Here: cheap nsw blues jersey