Canaveral National Seashore in Dorian’s Wake

Made another trip out to the Canaveral National Seashore yesterday and it was a bit different.

It was our first visit since Hurricane Dorian passed by, skirting our coastline.

Although the storm never got closer than about 50 miles offshore, the unmistakable tell that Dorian had come and gone was litter on the beach.

I’m happy to report that we saw no large items, but lots of flotsam and jetsam a lot assorted small debris. Bottle caps and plastic items of every kind and description were all over the beach.

I’m pretty sure that the rangers saw to it that the larger, uglier debris was removed but didn’t have the manpower to get the rest of it. I’ve been to the park many times and the beach has always been pristine.

As you might imagine, it was a bit off-putting to see it that way.

Here’s the silver lining in that dark cloud: those of us who like to pick up seashells when we go to the shore had thousands of shells of all kinds right there for the collecting.

I’ve never seen that at the beach, either. And we came back with quite a haul.

I’m planning another trip to the park soon to do what I can to get more of Dorian’s debris off our beloved beach. We couldn’t do much this time as we didn’t anticipate the situation and the park service does not put out trash cans on the beach.

We will be prepared next time.

Get outdoors, people!

Find some oasis of beauty and tranquility in your neck of the woods.

Enjoy it. Enjoy it and leave it a little better than you found it.

“Beachdog Ben” Basile

Photo credit Ben Lawrence Basile