Swiftly, silently

One of my bucket list things to do is to swim with turtles and photograph them underwater. 

It would be absolute heaven for me! 

I have learned a lot about turtles over the years, primarily while working with share the beach. www.sharethebeach.com  My husband and I are part of a large group of people that volunteer their time to walk 22 miles of Alabama Beaches every day from May until the end of August. Each person is responsible for either a mile or half mile walk while looking for nest activity. Share the beach has also been instrumental in getting the ordinance passed in Gulf Shores to help our momma turtles get to the sand easier to lay their eggs. Just a short time ago, I would have to drag chairs, umbrellas, shower curtains and just plain garbage out of the surf in Orange Beach, AL. The walks are pleasant now, because the people are required to remove everything from the beach in the evening. Anything not removed by the owners are confiscated by the night time beach patrol. 

I have seen the area where the tents, toys, chairs and other assorted items are 

piled to the heavens it seems! 

Why have we become such a careless, throw away society? 

There are people that think if I throw it down, it just disappears. 

We are on track as humans to have more plastic than fish in our oceans by the year 2050. 

We are already eating the by products of plastic that have found their way into our food chain.

We need to train ourselves and our children to take care of our earthly home.

It is after all, the only one we've got! 

Thankfully though, we no longer trip over as many items left on the beach 

while making our predawn walks.

There are less nests on Orange beach this year in our section. I don't know if it is global warming, the amount of people on the beaches at night, or some other unforeseen problem waiting to raise it's ugly head.

In the meantime, we do our small part, waking at 415 in the morning twice a month to 

walk the beach , looking for nests..... On average each nest has about 100 eggs. Out of that, 

one, 

yes just one

 may survive to adulthood and a nest of their own. 

Swiftly, silently Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12

Day 7 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2018