On this Wounded Nature-Working Veterans cleanup, a beautiful day on the beach turned into a sandstorm as the winds exceeded 20 knots and the water became extremely choppy just as we were finishing up and departing the island.
We were able to find and collect 82 crab traps. Many of these traps were partially buried and needed to be dug and pulled out of the hole by multiple adults due to the weight of the wet sand inside them. About half of the traps will be reused by South Carolina DNR to build new oyster beds. The insides of the cages will be filled with the empty oyster shells collected from seafood restaurants and then the cages will be planted strategically in an area where there is a high probability of building an oyster colony. We intentionally worked to keep this project focused on crab traps and left all of the debris and trash behind on the island. We hope to return next fall for a litter and debris cleanup.
A special note about the efforts of Ben Stone and Stevie Czwartacki from South Carolina DNR as they battled the winds and chop to rescue a small boat that had hit a sand bar out in the bay. We watched them from shore as their flat bottom boat was getting pushed around by the tide, chop, and high winds making it almost impossible to get near the stranded boaters. But after a few failed attempts and a great deal of persistence, they were able to pull off a rescue. To add to their difficulty, their boat was already overloaded with crab traps we had collected which did not leave any space for moving around on deck. At the time the stranded boaters were spotted, Ben and Stevie were on their way to a slightly sheltered area to pick up Elizabeth and John and then head back upriver to the boat ramp.
Wounded Nature – Working Veterans volunteers:
Tom Daugherty
Donna Monk
Fred Herrmann
Abby Olack
Mike Olack
Thomas Schanz
Andrea Schanz
Lucas Schanz
Eric Dietrich
Charlotte Dietrich
David Smalling
Rudy Socha
SC DNR participants
Ben Stone
John Heinsohn
Elizabeth Gooding
Stevie Czartacki
Media Coverage:
This article appeared in a number of SC publications.
Wounded Nature-Working Veterans works year-round to cleanup America’s coastal areas. Most of these areas can only be reached by boat and include rural beaches, tidal marshes, and high tide line collection points. Our work results in reducing the deaths of sea turtles, dolphins, sharks, and marine life. Cleaning these wildlife habitats results in increased recreational and commercial seafood production including clams, oysters, shrimp, and fish. Boats are usually needed on our cleanups making our cleanups expensive to conduct. Your donation can place a volunteer on the coast and help remove another cubic yard of litter and debris creating a small stretch of pristine beach and coastal area where wildlife breed and live.
