Sept. 27, 2007 — Fourth-graders from Guy Benjamin School in Coral Bay knew exactly why they were scouring the shoreline Thursday for debris during one of the school's Coastweeks cleanups.
"The animals in the water can die from plastic bags, cans and glass bottles," Alliyah Henry said, echoing the remarks of several of his classmates.
He said he was especially worried about the turtles because they eat jellyfish. He said turtles might think they're eating a jellyfish when they're eating a plastic bag — something that's been noted by marine biologists.
"The fish might eat the plastic too," he said.
There was no shortage of trash to pick up along the shoreline in back of the school. Glass bottles, pieces of plastic, a couple of cigarette lighters, and more flotsam and jetsam filled several bags. V.I. National Park ranger Laurel Brannick, who organizes school Coastweeks cleanups for the park, estimated that the youths picked up about 25 pounds of trash during their half hour excursion.
Brannick collected intact bottles to be recycled into paperweights at Maho Bay Camps glass recycling center. The paperweights will be used in the classroom.
Fourth-grade teacher Mary Burks said that in addition to learning about Coastweeks, the students will learn to make bar graphs by charting the amount and type of trash picked up. She said they'll also write an essay on the event.
"It's a good springboard," she said.
The trip started with Brannick's talk about the importance of Coastweeks. She said that during last year's event, volunteers around the world picked up 7 million pounds of trash. In the Virgin Islands, she said the total hit 5,000 pounds.
Brannick also told them that 61 percent of the trash found along the coasts comes from recreational activities such as picnics and festivals, food trucks. She told the fourth graders that if they have a party at a national park facility, they can't bring balloons because of the potential harm to animals.
"There are two ways they can die, and it's not fun," she said.
She said the animals can starve to death after they eat trash or they can drown when they get wrapped up in debris. Brannick said one million birds, sea turtles and other animals die each year from debris.
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