Tuesday’s Earth Day clean up of Bear Creek turned into a test from Mother Nature’s wind. The 20 MPH gusts kept us from crossing Pasadena Bay and getting into the creek,  but with a few suggestions from a new partner we succeeded! 

Before launch I scouted a course around the choppy, churned-up bay and  caught a glimpse of a dolphin moving slowly in a calm channel. He kept my attention with an occasional lazy leap & flip of the tail.  Just when I was giving up hope on where to clean up  I saw him floating motionless with his bottlenose pointing toward a mangrove spoil along a sea wall.  Could it  be this simple? Could he really be suggesting a trashy spot? Will I follow his lead and see it as a “sign”?  Yes I will!

As the small crew of the Green Machine navigated along the rocky shore they grew restless and eager to pick. I have to acknowledge  Harborside residents on their clean marina and surrounding mangrove filters! Keep up the good work!  When we landed on the dolphin’s shoal I saw he was right; A paint brush, a handful of heavy bolts, a huge ball of fishing line with hooks, papers, and parts of an old dock. Even a plastic bottle with a mangrove root growing straight through it was removed from the spot!   

We carefully balanced the boards and bags on our kayaks. It brought back memories of a time when I loaded a kayak with a tire and some wet, muddy grocery bags. It didn’t seem overloaded until I launched her into the channel and she & the kayak went straight to the bottom! Still sorry Ellen…please come back cause we need you!

Nothing resounds “success” during a return paddle like the giggles, laughs & camaraderie of a happy Greenie. Smelly tricks with Bonnethead sharks are always fun until you get home, right Mary?

Nine paddlers passed through the Corey bridge and made it back to the landing. There again the dolphin floated… pointing toward the mangroves at the launch site.  Greg & Michelle McIntosh of Nature Matters Inc quickly organized a run through spoil and retrieved plenty of bottles, cans, & Styrofoam. Ahhh….a nice clean launch site again.

Upon retrieving the last kayak from the beach there he was…the dolphin…pointing straight at us! For a moment, maybe two we admired the work.   I smiled, he nodded, then turned away with his tail in a high-five salute…out of sight!  

 Yea, Happy Earth Day to you too & welcome to the Green Machine!

Dolphin - NOT for dinner