Most of these balloons are those falsely marketed by the balloon industry as “biodegradable latex.” All photos were taken by Balloons Blow on Hutchinson Island, Florida, USA – unless otherwise noted. All photos with citations may be used for education purposes.
Flotsam and Jetsam 17
Beach Cleanup 3-31-13
Few miles south of yesterday’s beach. Same crap. Lots of small plastic bits. All washed ashore on a quarter mile stretch of beach. More styrofoam cups bitten up by trigger fish & South American debris, plastic caps, plastic straws, pieces of plastic bags & other plastic shreds, fishing gear & lures, pieces of a plastic trap, rope, & 7 latex balloons.
Beach Cleanup 4-6-13
Poseidon is angry, my friends. The plastic industry would like us to believe that recycling is the solution, but it is not. The first step is quitting our addiction to single-use products. Tossed from the sea & into the dunes: Single-use plastic beverage bottles, single-use plastic water bottles, single-use styrofoam cups, plastic caps, plastic straws, plastic utensils, plastic Solo cups, plastic lounge chair with marine organisms growing on it, foam, hundreds of feet of rope, yards of plastic caution tape. Trash made in Italy, India, Spain, Mexico & Martinique. And 9 balloons – 5 latex & 4 mylar.
Coquina Beach, NC
Just north of Coquina Beach on the OBX in North Carolina. Human trash purged from the sea within clumps of seaweed, single-use plastic beverage bottles, old aluminum cans, yards of entangled rope, caution tape, several old dive masks & a tangled mess of 2 latex balloons & ribbons.
Indian River Lagoon
Took a bike ride to the Indian River Lagoon after work today. I am so thankful that I live near the most biodiverse estuary in North America. Retrieved a small pile of trash while the pellys watched overhead. Of course, no clean-up would be complete without finding at least one balloon.
See what’s in the sea?
Even items “properly disposed” or sent for “recycling” can end up here. Our marine friends are consuming our trash. All spewed from the ocean & washed up into the dunes. Lots of small stuff today, breaking apart into microplastics. Plastic bottle caps, plastic straws, single-use foam cups, plastic utensils, single-use plastic beverage bottles, plastic cigar tips, plastic bags, rope, items from Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, Haiti, Cuba & Dominican Republic. 12 balloons – 5 latex & 7 mylar.
66 Balloons - 4/20/13
Angry skies & strong winds chased us off the beach today, but not before getting one bag full. All washed ashore & found in the dunes, the usual culprits, single-use plastic bottles & other single-use plastic crap, some plastic & balloons bitten by sea creatures. Today we found 66 damn balloons – 54 latex & 12 mylar.
Marine Debris
Quick walk on the beach yields some plastic crap, nibbled plastic shreds & 2 mylar balloons.
Beach Cleanup 4-27-2013
All washed ashore a beautiful, desolate beach. The presence of bryazoa, barnacles & bitemarks on much of this debris shows it was out in the ocean for quite some time. Single-use plastic water bottles, single-use styrofoam cups, single-use plastic bottles, plastic caps, plastic utensils, plastic straws, chunks of polystyrene, 30 feet of rope, a 50 foot net, plastic debris from Argentina, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, a lightbulb ‘Made in USSR’ & 25 balloons – 15 latex & 10 mylar.
Beach Cleanup 5-11-2013
The piles never seem to go down.
Beach Cleanup 5-16-13
More pollution and balloons.
Beach Cleanup 5-18-13
More balloons and plastic pollution.
Beach Cleanup 5-25-13
More balloons, plastic trash, styrofoam and more!
Repeat after us!
Balloons Blow and Plastic Bites!
Balloons Blow
Beach cleanup 6-2-13.
At it again!
Cleaning the beach, 6-8-13.
We'll Never Give Up
Beach cleanup 6-9-13.
Beach Cleanup 6-15-13
Balloons, plastic pollution & other marine debris.
Plastic Pollution
Beach cleanup 6-16-13.
Beach Cleanup 6-22-13
Balloons, plastic, netting, beach chair and styrofoam!
Beach Cleanup 6-29-13
Balloons, plastic and other marine debris!
Beach Cleanup 7-6-13
Fishing gear, rope, single-use plastic, plastic crates and balloons.
Beach Cleanup 7-13-13
Plastic, balloons, fishing line and styrofoam.
Beach Cleanup 7-20-13
The usual single-use plastic, styrofoam, balloons and more!
Beach Cleanup 7-27-13
Balloons, plastic and other marine debris.