A whopping five bags, a hull full and even a plastic cauldron. This completely filled my car and I now know that it is the maximum amount I can take at one time. If there was any sort of trash receptacle at this launch I would have done multiple trips today and worked on non-recyclables.
Pulled this Midland Painted Turtle off of the road on my way to the site. In Eastern PA we have two subspecies of painted. The Midland and the Eastern. The two are distinguishable through coloration patterns on both the plastron (bottom part of shell) and carapace (top part of shell). If you ever come across a turtle crossing a road and help it out, pick them up and move them about thirty feet off of the road in the direction they were heading. If it is a snapping turtle, use caution and keep your hand at the back end of the shell. They have extremely long necks and can easily get a hand or finger near the front of the shell.
What a beautiful day today. The drive was nice, the short paddle across the Schuylkill was nice, then I made it back to the decades of washed up trash. With the needle finds yesterday, I took today slow and made sure every step was a safe one.
I had a plan to work on the large piles of washed up trash against the hillside. That changed because, I figured the bottles along the bank are most likely to wash further down river in the next flooding event. You can see in these photos that taking out the plastics makes a difference, but many things are left behind. I will work to get everything out of there, but I may have to wait until next year before I can come up with some way of disposing of everything.
Such a nice surprise. I frightened this Longtail Salamander out of his hiding place. Just so you know, there is a much greater likelihood of finding needles on this bank than finding any salamander. This really was a treat.
An unpulled pull tab! I did not pull it. I have enough aluminum cuts on my hands currently.
I know the lighting is bad between the two photos, but I think you can still see the difference.
Pickerel Frog. Happy to see multiple amphibian species. The lack of them my first day at this site was concerning.
Anyone need a magnifying glass? Just a little scratched up.
This is exactly why I made sure to check everything I tread on. Bent so the needle was sticking up.
Found two total today. Sealed them up in an old pepsi bottle. On my way home I did what the State Police officer told me should be done with them and stopped at St. Lukes which was on my way home. The receptionist looked shocked and I am positive no one has walked in with needles before. She did take them and my card. To the receptionist if you do read this Thank You and I am sorry you had to deal with it.
I have found over five of these bottles at this site. There are only two possibilities I can think of as to why they are there. Either an event was held where these were floated down the river for a bottle race or it is part of a study on where plastic bottles end up on the river. If it is a study and the researcher is reading this. Use GPS trackers, your not going to find all of these bottles! I would lean more towards a large even with a bottle race, in that case all bottles should have been accounted for at the end.
Five full bags and if you look beyond them still more. I haven't even explored the majority of river bank at this access. There could be site after site here that is just as bad. I want to remove it all!
Number five fish. I wonder what one, two, three and four were.
Who would throw this awesome spoon in the river? I am guessing a child.
All of my bags were full and I still had to fill the hull of the kayak. Went back to the cauldron, emptied the water out of it and started filling it with bottles. I know know that the hull of my kayak can hold multiple cauldrons of trash.
WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BOAT! Everything attached and ready to go back across the Schuylkill.
Almost forgot. One Rubber Ducky.
New readers. In order for me to keep taking out the trash and continue this blog next year, I need funding. This summer I did it all for free, but I can't keep it up without funds. To contribute please visit: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA 2016
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