turtle watch volunteer arrested

Whether you agree or disagree Mary has probably done more for the "get the crap" off the beach cause then anyone has done in a long time!

I was down in Seagrove last night and was appalled at all the crap left on the beach.

I truly feel if people were forced to bring there junk in at night they may think twice about what they bring down there. Imagine having fun at the beach without all that plastic junk....:roll:

Whether you agree or disagree Mary has probably done more for the "get the crap" off the beach cause then anyone has done in a long time!

I was down in Seagrove last night and was appalled at all the crap left on the beach.

I truly feel if people were forced to bring there junk in at night they may think twice about what they bring down there. Imagine having fun at the beach without all that plastic junk....:roll:

I think this issue rates a photo expose' by the fabulous Kurt--especially the garbage heap left behind on the morning of the 5th of July before we haul our arses out of bed at 0'dark-thirty to clean up the mess. Me thinks that visitors may be under the impression that our beach cleans itself--or that the county has a "Disney-like" squad of cleaners who leap out from behind the dunes.

A shout out to Katherine,
Hope you are reading this! We love you!

I think this issue rates a photo expose' by the fabulous Kurt--especially the garbage heap left behind on the morning of the 5th of July before we haul our arses out of bed at 0'dark-thirty to clean up the mess. Me thinks that visitors may be under the impression that our beach cleans itself--or that the county has a "Disney-like" squad of cleaners who leap out from behind the dunes.

I really wish that one of the newspapers would do an expose..with full color photographs...showing just what is happening to the beaches--it would probably be picked up by AP and Facebook and Twitter and we would make the International News...to think that we have such a treasure in our natural habitat and we are destroying it...by neglect, laziness, and lack of government regulations that are appropriate or elected officials who have the courage to enforce the rules they've written.

It is disgraceful IMO.

I really wish that one of the newspapers would do an expose..with full color photographs...showing just what is happening to the beaches--it would probably be picked up by AP and Facebook and Twitter and we would make the International News...to think that we have such a treasure in our natural habitat and we are destroying it...by neglect, laziness, and lack of government regulations that are appropriate or elected officials who have the courage to enforce the rules they've written.

It is disgraceful IMO.

...the TDC would NEVER let that happen...Hey! Maybe we can blackmail them by threatening to send the portfolio of photos to the St Pete Times (local papers wouldn't post the story) unless they get off their collective arses and do some serious cracking down on the overnight and abandoned beach crap and scrap.

When we bought our property you could shoot a cannon east and west and never strike a soul.

That reminded me of my dad, who used to say the same thing about Hwy 98 in wintertime, particularly in front of the store we owned 30-40 years ago.

However, I also had relatives who owned gulffront property, and while they didn't appreciate people traipsing through their sandspur-filled back yard and using their private stairs, people walking across "their" sand from east to west didn't bother them in the least. I honestly don't think it ever occurred to them to consider the beach itself as their private property. Far as they were concerned, owning to the MHWL just meant someone couldn't build between them and the beach. It was a kinder, simpler time, and I miss the heck out of it.

That reminded me of my dad, who used to say the same thing about Hwy 98 in wintertime, particularly in front of the store we owned 30-40 years ago.

However, I also had relatives who owned gulffront property, and while they didn't appreciate people traipsing through their sandspur-filled back yard and using their private stairs, people walking across "their" sand from east to west didn't bother them in the least. I honestly don't think it ever occurred to them to consider the beach itself as their private property. Far as they were concerned, owning to the MHWL just meant someone couldn't build between them and the beach. It was a kinder, simpler time, and I miss the heck out of it.

I agree completely...

...the TDC would NEVER let that happen...Hey! Maybe we can blackmail them by threatening to send the portfolio of photos to the St Pete Times (local papers wouldn't post the story) unless they get off their collective arses and do some serious cracking down on the overnight and abandoned beach crap and scrap.

sounds good to me.

Whether you agree or disagree Mary has probably done more for the "get the crap" off the beach cause then anyone has done in a long time!

I was down in Seagrove last night and was appalled at all the crap left on the beach.

I truly feel if people were forced to bring there junk in at night they may think twice about what they bring down there. Imagine having fun at the beach without all that plastic junk....:roll:

I think this issue rates a photo expose' by the fabulous Kurt--especially the garbage heap left behind on the morning of the 5th of July before we haul our arses out of bed at 0'dark-thirty to clean up the mess. Me thinks that visitors may be under the impression that our beach cleans itself--or that the county has a "Disney-like" squad of cleaners who leap out from behind the dunes.

I really wish that one of the newspapers would do an expose..with full color photographs...showing just what is happening to the beaches--it would probably be picked up by AP and Facebook and Twitter and we would make the International News...to think that we have such a treasure in our natural habitat and we are destroying it...by neglect, laziness, and lack of government regulations that are appropriate or elected officials who have the courage to enforce the rules they've written.

It is disgraceful IMO.

...the TDC would NEVER let that happen...Hey! Maybe we can blackmail them by threatening to send the portfolio of photos to the St Pete Times (local papers wouldn't post the story) unless they get off their collective arses and do some serious cracking down on the overnight and abandoned beach crap and scrap.

That reminded me of my dad, who used to say the same thing about Hwy 98 in wintertime, particularly in front of the store we owned 30-40 years ago.

However, I also had relatives who owned gulffront property, and while they didn't appreciate people traipsing through their sandspur-filled back yard and using their private stairs, people walking across "their" sand from east to west didn't bother them in the least. I honestly don't think it ever occurred to them to consider the beach itself as their private property. Far as they were concerned, owning to the MHWL just meant someone couldn't build between them and the beach. It was a kinder, simpler time, and I miss the heck out of it.

This photo was taken near the "incident" about 9am this morning:




...and nearby signs like this are posted:

Hadn't looked at this thread since yesterday. I applaud all of these posters for their gutsy posts! SHELLY and gw...get on it!

SJ...once again, you have provided the pic that says it all. I snapped a little when I saw it. I am trying to think jsut how I would react if I had driven 12 hours in the car for our once a year vacation and walked down to the beach to see this junkpile....I probably would have cried. I can't imagine I would pay to return to such a mess the next year. Does the TDC really believe this is good PR????

...and I'm disturbed by the attitudes of the people who think leaving junk all over the beach is OK--so I guess it's a wash.



.

Disapproving of this lady's actions doesn't mean you believe leaving junk on the beach is ok. It just means you know there is a more rational, mature and LEGAL way of handling the situation!

Disapproving of this lady's actions doesn't mean you believe leaving junk on the beach is ok. It just means you know there is a more rational, mature and LEGAL way of handling the situation!

Do tell us what that might be.

This photo was taken near the "incident" about 9am this morning:




...and nearby signs like this are posted:

This is a disgrace. Since the Ordinance went into effect, this hasn't happened to this degree at Blue Mountain, but we have lifeguard stands, too. They do a great job watching the waters AND the beaches for violators.

Hope the County gets this revised soon so they can resume their duties.

wrobert, you are making assumptions, one being that people don't leave their beach crap on public beaches. Secondly, I don't recall cheering anyone on in this thread.

Seems that the law enforcement didn't have a problem removing tourists from the beach, but it when it comes to removing tourists beach crap, suddenly there is a problem. Go figure.

Lastly, if I'm walking on the beach at night and I fall into a canopy frame after tripping over the guidewire to said canopy, thereby crushing the leg of the tent, am I going to be hauled to jail? I've done just that, and it hurt like a mo-fo.

People, remove your crap daily.

Tourists were removed from the beach????? Sounds like there's a good story there!!! ;-)

There is nothing illegal about being on the beach at night. I have walked in the morning and passed by people sleeping on their beach towel. During nesting season, it is recommended to not have bright lights as they will blind a turtle for awhile and should a nest hatch, the turtles naturally crawl toward light which is supposed to be the horizon and therfore the ocean. This is why some have come up with the red light covers as it is a part of the light spectrum that turtles apparently don't see and yet it gives people lighting to be able to see where they are going.

Thanks for clarifying this for me! I knew about the light hazard, but I had heard from some posters or notices in the past that humans shouldn't be (or sleep) on the beach at night because we are therefore a potential obstruction to a potential sea turtle who may be needing to lay potential eggs. Common sense would tell me to watch out for her and move out of her way, so I am glad we are not legislatively forbidden from traversing the beach at night.

wrobert, I think you would find that you and I probably agree on more political issues than we disagree on. The obvious exceptions appear to be overnight beach belongings and misplaced high rises. However, I always thought you were an anti-tax person, yet now you are wanting people to be taxed for designated t-shirts? Isn't that a bit burdensome and, well, over-taxing?

Do tell us what that might be.

Couldn't you:

A. Contact authorities
B. Confront owners of beach crap
C. Complain to the Condo mangers (I know, this probably won't work)
D. Move it WITHOUT destroying it.

Btw, I like your quote...

I thought people couldn't sleep on the beaches because you can't camp on the beach, not because of turtles. The sheriff has rousted me off the beach in the wee hours and turtles were never mentioned - just no sleeping.

This photo was taken near the "incident" about 9am this morning:




...and nearby signs like this are posted:

You need a picture that can convey the gravity of the situation without all the captions. Unless I know that stuff has been there a while, it's difficult to be outraged, I'm just being honest. It certainly doesn't look like a major eyesore. For me at least it doesn't have the impact.

I thought people couldn't sleep on the beaches because you can't camp on the beach, not because of turtles. The sheriff has rousted me off the beach in the wee hours and turtles were never mentioned - just no sleeping.

I'm not familiar with the laws in Walton County, but I know it's been illegal in Gulf Shores for a while. I remember an incident when I was probably aroudn 10 years old and a sketchy guy was arguing with the lifeguards and beach patrol about the fact that he WAS gonna sleep on the beach that night regardless of what "the law" said. Some kids slept on the beach one night this past July in the vacant parcel on Eastern Lake Road where Leeward Condos used to be. They were in a white Envoy or something like that parked up near the road but slept on the beach near the MHWM. They (illegally) used the boardwalk shower at Eastern Shores.

How are the abandoned, upside-down tent skeletons not an eyesore?

How are the abandoned, upside-down tent skeletons not an eyesore?

It's a complex issue involving militant property rights issues, a volleyball net, a misguided strategem for running for political office, %^($* lawyers, sock puppets, cranial-rectal inversion, and a complete disregrad for common sense, endangered species, the environment, and your fellow human beings.

Most think they are eyesores and pick up afterthemselves, but there are always those rotten apples...............

I have never posted on this site, but visit it frequently and have pretty much had the divine blessing of growing up in the area. My parents owned a beach house in old Seacrest starting in 1984. I have seen the entire 30A grow and blossom with me in life.

Although this event has brought many issues and angles about what we are ALL passionate about - our beaches - I feel that many of you are missing the fact that our culture as a whole has gotten extremely lazy. I think I read one person that mentioned this laziness . . . in all 3 pages of posts.

Timing is everything, this has been building for the past five years. If we as a community along with our law enforcement officials don't put a stop to the carelessness and disregard of the beach and nature here, then this will be a never ending lose-lose battle. Nobody is winning right now - not us, not the turtles, not the animals in our habitat and apparently not the tourists who feel they have been victimized.

I am not sure what exactly happened with Ms. Mary, but I too have had my moments of disappointment on the beach and although not part of the Turtle Watch I too pick up trash and fill in holes on my almost daily walks along the beach. I have had the opportunity to explain these actions to tourists and most are understanding and happy to help after they know. BUT, our culture has gotten lazy and unless they have a good reason to do something, most people won't do it anymore. The old fashioned values have been lost and the "me now" generation.

I have to agree with Gigdet on the fact that if we take all of this passion for the beach (and that is the 1 and only thing we all have in common on this thread) and use it to come up with solutions, then we would really be doing something good for the community. Now, how in the world could we actually have it enforced????

Thank you OLL! Miss Sallie Williams would be proud! For those of you who just got here, Miss Sallie was a realtor who "developed" Seacrest in the early 1970's. She was passionate about the beach, and protecting the natural beauty that we enjoy. Pick up the trash, fill in the holes, explain things to our visitors, don't look to government or someone else to do it all -- and enjoy the beach once again. Life could be so good.

How are teheabandoned, upside-down tent skeletons not an eyesore?

I guess we all have different pet peeves. I honestly think the area looks pretty good but obviously I've seen better. I myself think vehicles on the beach are an eyesore but that's just me. The point is we all perceive things differently. [Edit]honestly, I cant' make out half the stuff in that picture. The only thing that stands out is the tent frame which could possibly be a tent in the process of being set up for all I know. I'm just saying that a good picture says 1000 words. In this case you need 1000 words to explain the picture. Lose the captions and take some closeups if you're trying to persuade is all I'm saying.

How are teheabandoned, upside-down tent skeletons not an eyesore?

It's a matter of perspective--a backed up, fully-loaded toilet in the eyes of a plumber is Shangri-La.

.

Pick up the trash, fill in the holes, explain things to our visitors, don't look to government or someone else to do it all -- and enjoy the beach once again. Life could be so good.

Maybe it's just me...but picking up trash, filling in holes and hauling old chairs and broken tents to the trash can everytime I go for a stroll on the beach isn't my idea of "enjoyable."

.

It's a matter of perspective--a backed up, fully-loaded toilet in the eyes of a plumber is Shangri-La.

.