A Productive Day at Dockweiler Beach

Have you ever held a baby tiger shark, found $20 dollars AND cleaned a beach all in one morning? Well I am. This past Sunday, October 12, 2014, my English 101S and University 101 class participated in the Heal the Bay beach clean at Dockweiler Beach. To be honest, I did not like the idea of waking up early on a Sunday,  commuting to the beach, and cleaning up after messy beach-goers but surprisingly, I loved it! When I first got there, my mom, grandma and I walked around and while kicking around sand a $20 dollar bill popped up and it was certainly a great way to start my morning. Then once all the participates arrived we were put in groups and given gloves, trash bags and a data sheet. At the beginning of our hunt for trash a fisherman had captured a baby tiger shark and let us hold it and take pictures which was really cool! Also, during the trash pick up we found a few oddities! My friend, Jannet, found and picked up a used female product, which was really gross! Then we found huge stuffed bears in the trash, a broken bucket, a shovel, and a broken sand castle play set. The item we found the most of was cigarette buds and pieces of plastic. The entire experience was sincerely an eye opener. I never realized how dirty the beach is until I went to clean. I'm guilty of littering and now I feel terrible about it. Conversely, cleaning the beach and knowing I'm doing a little bit of effort to save animals and help the environment made me feel good about myself.