With summer well underway, the beach is on the minds of many looking for a place to beat the heat and soak up some sun. As fun as it may be, though, it’s important to remember that time at the beach comes with its share of hazards, not only for your health but for the wildlife with which you’re sharing the sand and surf.
To help you make your shore time safer this summer — not just for you but for the environment — here are some helpful safety tips.
Use Reef-Safe Sunscreen
Also known as “reef-friendly sunscreen,” these skin-protective formulations typically lack oxybenzone and octinoxate, two commonly used chemicals that are known contributors to coral bleaching. Bleaching is a stress response that coral to expel helpful zooxanthellae. Zooxanthellae are symbiotic, photosynthetic phytoplankton the coral rely upon to survive and whose presence gives coral its vibrant color. When they’re expelled, the coral turns white — as if it were bleached — leaving it susceptible to disease and death.
About 25% of the ocean’s fish depend on the health of coral reefs, in addition to their benefits for local communities as a source of jobs, food and medicine. You’ll want to find mineral-based sunscreens, particularly those that you can rub into your skin rather than spray. If your sunscreen has zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, these minerals form a barrier to keep skin from absorbing harmful ultraviolet radiation. This protective barrier keeps your skin protected while preventing harmful chemicals from impacting coral reefs.
This Cauliflower Coral is one kind of coral that be affected by non-reef safe sunscreens, and has been listed an endangered species.
Don’t Take The Sand
Taking home a bit of sand as a souvenir of your beach trip may seem like a harmless gesture, but there are serious legal and environmental considerations to take into account before you start
scooping. For example, did you know that taking sand from a national park is illegal and can result in fines and other penalties? Oftentimes, such regulations can depend entirely on the area.
It’s also equally important to consider the ecological impact of removing sand, shells, and other parts of the environment. In Hawaii, the Department of Land and Natural Resources can levy a fine of up to $100,000 for the removal of sand or other marine debris from the state’s beaches.
Sand needs to stay where it is because it serves as the primary building block for habitats to a host of animals. Birds, turtles, plants and other marine and terrestrial life depend on keeping sandy areas safe by not disturbing them. Sandy structures such as barrier islands and dunes also can benefit people by slowing erosion and mitigating the impact of storms, tsunamis and other natural disasters. During your summertime visit, follow the timeless adage to take only pictures and leave only footprints.
Stella, the Seahorse is a sculpture made entirely from marine debris and came to the Aquarium as part of our Washed Ashore exhibit to raise awareness about the prevalence of plastic and other harmful substances in our water.
Don’t Litter/Pick Up Litter
Litter is a top-down problem. It starts by making our beaches ugly, and nobody wants the view from under their umbrella to be spoiled by food wrappers, discarded flipflops or forgotten toys.
The real problem with leaving trash on beaches, though, is that it doesn’t always stay on the beach. Once it enters the ocean, trash and debris can have extreme and adverse impacts on marine life that inhabits coastal areas and even inland waterways.
Birds, turtles, crustaceans, and more also are at risk of mistaking our detritus for food. Plastic bags and bottles, food wrappers, and six-pack rings can harm sea life. To a sea turtle, the billowing, translucent form of a water bound plastic bag easily be mistaken for a jelly, one of their food sources. Unlike their tentacled lookalikes, however, bags aren’t digestible. A mistakenly eaten bag can pose a choking hazard to the turtle or increase its buoyancy, impacting its ability to dive or feed.
Even litter in Tennessee makes its way into our rivers and eventually the ocean.
The rise of microplastics in the ocean and even in animals is a stark reminder of why it’s important to properly dispose of trash when you visit the beach. According to statistics from the UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, 80% of all marine pollution consists of plastic waste. That’s about 8 to 10 million metric tons finding its way into the ocean each year. Some research has suggested that, left unchecked, the volume of microplastic in the ocean could outweigh the total volume of marine fish by 2050.
Thankfully, curbing beach trash is an easy fix. We can all help by simply being respectful of our fellow beachgoers and the environment by picking up after ourselves or, even better, properly disposing of trash you see on beaches. If you’re interested in giving back during your visit, sites like VolunteerCleanUp.org let you search by time and location for beach clean-up events that coincide with your vacation.
