Garbage in Paradise - A Trip to the Windward Side

Some things are cool to find on the beach.

Most of the photos we have posted from the Marshall Islands have fit the stereotype of the idyllic tropical beach.  Unfortunately, this is only half the picture - literally.  The lagoon side of any of the atolls we visited was generally pristine and offered vistas of miles of white sand and green water.  A walk to the windy side, however, offered an entirely different experience.  The constant roar of the surf on the outer atoll also announces its ongoing deposit of plastic on these remote islands, and the high tide line was marked not only by the row of scrubby plants, but also by a line of debris.  Shampoo and soap bottles, fishing floats, shoes, and other random pieces converge from all over the Pacific on these tiny atolls.  The story was the same at every atoll we visited.

This is the scene on almost any windward shore we have visited in the Pacific.

This is the scene on almost any windward shore we have visited in the Pacific.

Always, lots and lots of flip flops but never a pair.

Rest assured this did not come from Ailuk.  No coffee shops here. Or shops even.

It appears this boats - four of them - drifted all the way from Ecuador.

It appears these boats - four of them - drifted all the way from Ecuador.

At least in this case the old sea kayak was repurposed.