Beach Junki cleanup benefits sea turtles

Plastic in the ocean is a serious issue. Luckily, there’s a solution to the pollution.

Scientists estimate about 8 million pieces of plastic find their way to the ocean every day. All together, there are more than 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean. The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates at 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year.

Amelia Island serves as the home base for many nonprofits and organizations aimed at least in part at solving this problem. For Earth Day 2023, Fernandina Beach-based Beach Junki hosted volunteers for a beach cleanup, just in time for the sea turtle nesting season to begin.

Around 52 volunteers spent their Saturday at Main Beach to pick up trash. Beach Junki founder Amy Beach addressed the crowd, thanking them for their support and for doing their part to help nesting sea turtles.

Sea turtles play an important role in healthy oceans and ecosystems, OCEANA said in a report on sea turtles. “These roles range from maintaining productive coral reef ecosystems to transporting essential nutrients from the oceans to beaches and coastal dunes,” the report reads. “Our oceans are unhealthy and under significant threat from overfishing, pollution and climate change. It is time for us to protect sea turtles and rebuild their populations to healthy levels as a vital step in ensuring healthy and resilient oceans for the future.”

President of Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch, Inc. Mary Duffy has also spoken to the importance of sea turtles and keeping the beaches clean for them.

“Sea turtles are the barometer of the ocean,” she said. “When the sea turtles start dying, that means the oceans die.”

In Northeast Florida, the sea turtle nesting season begins May 1 and goes through October. Soon enough, nests from loggerhead turtles, greens and maybe even a leatherback or two will begin popping up on the beaches. Marked with yellow tape and signs, it is a crime to disturb a sea turtle nest. Violators can be fined up to $5,000 and serve up to five years in prison for disturbing a sea turtle nest, a nesting mother or her eggs.

Beach Junki officially became a 501(c)(3) in 2020, but has been cleaning up Amelia Island’s beaches for years. Not only has the organization aided in cleaning up the beaches, but it has also overseen the installation of two different art pieces aimed at raising awareness of plastic pollution and encouraging beach visitors to properly discard of their trash.

“Amelia the Sea Turtle” is made entirely of washed-up and broken sunglasses (Beach Junki said it has collected thousands of dollars worth of name brand sunglasses from the beach throughout the years), bottle caps, an abandoned solitary flip-flop and other plastic debris found along the beach. It can be viewed at Seaside Park in Fernandina Beach.

The second installation, “Shrimper’s Paradise,” is made of shotgun shells and fishing lures. It is on display at Main Beach and shows a group of shrimp under the sea where they live.

Both art pieces are part of Beach Junki’s initiative The Washed-Up Project. As time goes on and more litter is collected, more art pieces will be installed at various beaches on the island to serve as a reminder to keep the beaches clean.

In addition to the art installations, Beach Junki has also installed a Beach Toy Borrow Box and a Beach Toy Treasure Chest at Main Beach and Seaside Park, respectively. To save money and plastic, Beach Junki encourages families visiting the beach to utilize the toys available in those boxes and return them when finished.

After receiving a grant from Florida’s Sea Turtle Grants Program, Beach Junki also led the installation of sea turtle awareness signs at 48 different public accesses in Fernandina Beach.

hdorman@fbnewsleader.com