How we are connected to the world around us

Before you leave that plastic bottle on the beach or forget to take your raft home, think of the Gulf of Mexico as a segment of the web of life. How we care for it affects more than just residents of the Alabama Gulf Coast.

Seventy percent of the earth’s surface is covered by ocean waters that are divided into four segments: Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Arctic. Smaller ocean regions are called bays, gulfs and seas, and include the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. In our part of the world, we fondly refer to that expanse of lovely turquoise water as the Gulf and we proudly tout the advantages of living in a place that has sugar-white sands and cool breezes.

According to NationalGeographic.com, the vast ocean network is home to the majority of the world’s plants and animals and contains about 97 percent of the earth’s water supply. To protect our beaches and portion of the world’s ocean, the cities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach enacted the Leave Only Footprints initiative that went into effect in November 2015.

The Leave Only Footprints ordinance asks that any beach equipment intended for use on or around the water be removed from the beach by an hour after sunset each day. If the equipment is not removed, clean-up crews will make sure the items are removed before the next day. The items will be discarded or recycled rather than returned. Holes deeper than 12 inches should be filled before leaving the beach. The Sea Turtle Patrol will assist the city so that the LOF initiative does not hinder the laying of turtle eggs, another piece of the Gulf of Mexico web. If sea turtles cannot lay eggs or hatchlings don’t have a clear path to return to the Gulf, that part of the web could be broken.

Keeping the beach clean for future visitors is an upshot of the Leave Only Footprints policy. Making sure items like plastic water bottles that could take up to 450 years to decompose don’t end up in the Gulf of Mexico is important for generations to come. The urgency for removing monofilament fishing line that has a decomposition time of 600 years is even clearer when the damage to unwitting sea creatures could happen just hours after left in the Gulf or on the sand.

Take your trash and your belongings and fill your holes. Make sure the Gulf of Mexico is cleaner when you leave than when you came, and Leave Only Footprints.