This September I had the chance to go to John U Lloyd State Park and volunteer for the Coastal Cleanup.  I went with other members of my Scout Troop, Troop 198 of the Fort Lauderdale Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  There were about 12 of us boys that went and a bunch of adults too.

I did this service project as part of my school assignment.  We have to do one service learning project per year.  I wanted to do this project because I was looking for a way to help the sea turtles.  Every year, sea turtles are having a harder and harder time having babies and the population shrinks.  A lot of this has to do with pollution.  The biggest problem is agricultural pollution, and it is because of the fertilizers that the farmers use.  The fertilizers make the algae and bacteria in the lagoons the turtles swim in stronger than they would be.  They also weaken the immune system of the turtles.  This is what cause the big nobs that are starting to develop on the turtles' eyes and fins.  When they nobs get too big the turtle can't see or swim and they die.  It's a really big problem.

We picked up so many bags of trash like the one I am carrying that we lost track.  We would fill them up and then put the in bigger trash bags.  There were a lot of disgusting things we found on the beach that I won't even mention.  Most of the time we were wearing gloves.  My hands got so sweaty I had to take mine off for a while.  In this picture I am holding an energy drink can.

I think that the service we did was very meaningful to the community.  People love to see the sea turtles, and they love to have healthy beaches and coasts.  The trash that people forget or throw on the beaches make the beaches and coasts dangerous for wildlife and unpleasant for people.  No one likes to start digging in the sand and uncover cigarette butts, beer cans, glass, or dirty diapers.  We found all of these things during the cleanup!  I hope that what we did that day saved the life of at least one turtle and made the beach a more pleasant place for others to be.  I think if people see the beaches clean, they are more likely to leave them that way when they go home.  I think we helped the community remember that clean beaches are good beaches for people and animals.  I hope that people in the community will help keep the beaches and coast clean for them and for the sea turtles!