There's hope

Last month when Jay, Shep, and I took our trip to the coast, we stopped in historic Newport at the docks to walk around and, of course, had to stop to see the sea lions.  Shep was surely not a fan and Jay actually had to take Shep off the dock as Shep willingly pulled him along.  But before they walked away from me we all took note of one sea lion in particular: enter stage below.

A piece of something - plastic, wire, rope - was wrapped around the neck of this one sea lion. He/she seemed to be unfazed, but the material had been rubbing away at his neck for some time and a raw spot was visible. I immediately wished I had some extremely long-handled gardening shears to reach down, perhaps when this creature's eyes were closed, to cut through this neck trap and free him/her of this awful plight. And of course I thought to myself that somebody should be out there doing something - after all, Hatfield Marine Science Center is just across the bay and someone there would care, right?

Fast forward to today: tonight, while eating dinner (yep, blender-ed tortilla soup - you guessed it!) and browsing the local paper, this story caught my eye. http://shar.es/aNu7L I guess I don't see why there aren't any other creative means to removing this torture chamber of sorts, but I now understand why a tranquilizer dart won't help. I'm at least glad that I am not the only one who has noticed.

Now....some of you may know how devoted Jay and I are to recycling and composting and generally making efforts to reduce our impact where possible. And I'm not here to try to lecture anyone on their habits (or lack thereof), but I hope it's hard to shrug off the extra minute or two it takes to cut the plastic rings that hold soda cans together or come on milk/juice containers, or to tear apart the oodles of packaging materials that come with anything you purchase these days. And if you are STILL using plastic grocery bags, please give me a buzz and I will buy reusables and send or hand deliver them to you! It doesn't take much to make a little difference. If you care to see more results of lazy recycling practices, please google "Great Pacific Garbage Patch"; you will surely be shocked. (......cue curtain closing......)