By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
This wasn’t the type of beach time normally associated with trips to the Jersey Shore.
Instead of toting around beach chairs, umbrellas and coolers, some of the visitors to Sea Isle City on Sunday morning were carrying large trash bags.
They were taking part in the annual spring “beach sweep” to remove litter and other debris from the environmentally fragile shoreline.
Three of the cleanup volunteers, Joe Krajicek and Lauren Barnhart and her 14-year-old son, Sebastian, methodically combed the dunes in search of trash and then moved down to the beach to continue their work.
Among other types of trash and just plain junk, they picked up deflated balloons, golf balls, beach toys and discarded bottles and cans. Oh, there was something yucky, too, that they found.
“I have a bag of dog poop,” Barnhart said.
“I have one as well,” Krajicek said, smiling.
Krajicek, Barnhart and her son were among about 60 environmentally conscious volunteers who showed up on Sunday for the cleanup, a smaller number than usual for the annual spring event.
The lower turnout was attributed to the rescheduling of the cleanup. It was moved to Sunday after strong winds forced Sea Isle City’s Environmental Commission, the event organizer, to call it off on Saturday.
Krajicek and Barnhart, who both live in Seaville and are co-workers at 1st Bank of Sea Isle City, volunteer for the cleanup every year. Sebastian Barnhart joined with them this year to do his part to protect the environment.
“I’m out here so I can help to keep the beaches clean and healthy. We want to send a message that we care about the beaches,” Sebastian said.
Krajicek stressed that it is critical to keep the shoreline as free of trash as possible to help Sea Isle maintain its reputation as an attractive beach and vacation resort.
“That’s a large part of what Sea Isle is all about – the beaches,” he said.
Sea Isle’s Environmental Commission organizes the cleanup in partnership with the state group Clean Ocean Action. Now in its 38th year, the event traditionally attracts families, community organizations, companies, school groups and other volunteers who simply want to protect the environment. Cleanups are done in the spring and fall.
During signups Sunday, members of the Environmental Commission handed out vinyl gloves and large trash bags to the volunteers. The volunteers were also given a data card to record the types of trash and debris they found.
The Environmental Commission plans to compile a report later on that will analyze the types of litter that were picked up and the amount.
The most unusual find of the day was a live baby diamondback terrapin. The volunteer who found the turtle was told to let it go in the marshlands by the bay.
Traditionally, cigarette butts are among the biggest source of litter found during the beach sweeps. However, a statewide smoking ban took effect on New Jersey beaches and public parks in January 2019. As a result, it appears fewer cigarette butts are being removed from the beach now, volunteers pointed out.
“I haven’t seen one cigarette butt so far,” Krajicek said while Barnhart nodded her head in agreement.
Two of the volunteers, Bradd Hedley, and his 12-year-old daughter, Kendall, picked up a large amount of cans, bottles and other litter from the dunes – enough to nearly fill their trash bag.
“We may have to go over there to get more,” Hedley said of getting another trash bag or two for the cleanup.
Kendall, a seventh grader, participated in the beach cleanup as part of her community volunteerism as a member of the National Honor Society.
‘It’s kind of fun,” she said while helping her dad stuff litter and debris into their trash bag.
Hedley, who lives in North Cape May, said he doesn’t want any of the trash to make its way into the ocean and threaten the sea life.
“We’re cleaning up this part of the beach so that the trash doesn’t end up in the water. Turtles could eat it,” he said.
Matt Devlin, of Absecon, returned to Sea Isle on Sunday to help clean up some of the beaches that he protected when he was formerly a Sea Isle lifeguard. Devlin brought along some help: his 3-year-old son, Hendrix.
“This is home. It’s super-important to give back to Sea Isle. I grew up in Sea Isle. I grew up in the ocean. I want to pass it on to him,” Devlin said of giving his son some of the same experiences that he enjoyed in Sea Isle.
At only 3 years old, Hendrix was quite possibly the youngest volunteer at the beach cleanup. He may also have been dressed the coolest. His big, blue sunglasses made a bold fashion statement. He was also clad in a green Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt.
“I want to clean up the beach and make it pretty,” Hendrix declared.
While it may have seemed, at first glance at least, that Hendrix was eager to clean up trash from the beach, his dad confided that his son was given an extra incentive for helping out – three donut holes from Dunkin’ Donuts.
“That was our last stop before coming here,” Devlin said of buying the donut holes at Dunkin’ Donuts en route to Sea Isle for the cleanup.
