It was a beautiful day today, so after work I went down to Sea Cliff Beach. I haven’t been to the beach since last year because I’ve been so consumed with the responsibilities of life and working two jobs. It was very peaceful being the only person sitting on the beach in the afternoon. Hearing the waves gently crash onto shore, feeling the warm sun on my back with the chilly October breeze on my face felt oddly healing to my soul.
I noticed it was low tide, so I went down by the water to look at all of the shells and see if any sea creatures had washed up that I could gently toss back into the water.
As I walked along the shoreline, I noticed a lot of seaweed washed up along the beach, along with several dead horseshoe crabs. Then I spotted something else, fishing line.
At first, it was easy to miss. A roughly 10-foot section of green fishing line was tangled up with seaweed and stretched from the shore toward the water. Because of its color, it blended almost perfectly into the rocks, seaweed, and algae.
As I followed it, I discovered that the line was attached to a giant tangled ball of fishing line. There appeared to be an enormous amount of it, potentially close to 100 yards tangled together and mixed with seaweed. The other end was wedged underneath a large rock, an area that would normally be covered by water but was exposed because of the low tide.
I pulled the line free and dragged the entire mess across the beach to throw it away. The walk back felt surprisingly long as I hauled the heavy ball of fishing line, with seaweed still tangled throughout it. I tried to carefully untangle as much of the seaweed as I could and return it to the water before disposing of the fishing line.
And it got me thinking…
How many people had walked past that line without ever seeing it?
How many people might have noticed it but assumed it wasn’t their responsibility?
How long might it have remained there if the tide hadn’t happened to be low enough for me to find it?
The person who left that fishing line behind may never know that it was still sitting there. They may never know what could have become tangled in it. A bird, fish, turtle, dolphin, or other marine animal doesn’t know that something isn’t “their trash.” To wildlife, discarded fishing line is simply another hazard in their environment/home.
You Don’t Have to Be the Person Who Left It Behind
We often think of cleaning up litter as someone else’s responsibility. Maybe we didn’t drop it. Maybe we weren’t the ones who left it there. Maybe someone else will come along and take care of it.
But sometimes, you can simply choose to be the person who picks it up.
There are wonderful volunteer groups that organize beach cleanups throughout the year, and those efforts are incredibly important. But keeping our beaches clean can’t only happen during scheduled cleanup events.
If you’re walking along the beach and see a piece of plastic, fishing line, a bottle, or another piece of litter that you can safely remove, pick it up.
It might not be your trash.
But it’s still your beach.
And that small action can make a difference.
It Doesn’t Take Much to Help
You don’t have to spend hours cleaning the entire shoreline. You don’t have to organize an event or fill an entire garbage bag.
Sometimes it’s one piece of fishing line.
One plastic wrapper.
One bottle.
One piece of rope.
One small piece of trash that you noticed and decided not to leave behind.
And sometimes, that one piece of trash could prevent an animal from becoming injured or trapped.
The things we leave behind don’t simply disappear. Fishing line doesn’t magically dissolve into the ocean. Plastic doesn’t just vanish. Items that seem insignificant to us can remain in the environment for years and become dangerous obstacles for wildlife.
Be Mindful of What You Leave Behind
Of course, the best cleanup is the trash that never gets left behind in the first place.
If you’re fishing, make sure your line and equipment are properly disposed of. If you’re having a picnic, double-check that you’ve packed everything up before you leave. If something accidentally blows away, make an effort to retrieve it.
And if you see someone else’s trash while you’re enjoying the beach, don’t automatically think, That’s not mine.
Think, “I can help.”
It costs nothing to be considerate.
It costs nothing to pick something up.
And it costs nothing to care about the place we share with wildlife and with one another.
I went to the beach today looking for a little peace and ended up leaving with a reminder: sometimes doing your part doesn’t have to be a big gesture. Sometimes it’s simply noticing something that shouldn’t be there and deciding to do something about it.
So the next time you’re at the beach, take a look around. If you see something that doesn’t belong, pick it up if you can do so safely.
It may only take a few seconds.
But those few seconds could make all the difference someone who calls that beach home.
A personal reflection by Mikayla D.
Visit Glen Cove & Sea Cliff⛵