On a visit to Thompson Bay in Long Island, Bahamas, for $5.00, Tryphena, proprietor of Club Thompson Bay, will take you to a "secret beach" to look for shells and sea beans. Eighteen of us piled into Tryphena's pick-up truck, an adventure in itself. I had heard much about finding sea beans in the Bahamas and had not yet had the opportunity to go sea bean hunting, so I was excited about the outing. The ride was about three miles, half of it down a bumpy dirt road that finally ended high above a beach on the east coast of Long Island. The sight overlooking the beach was breathtaking. The water was multiple shades of blue, it was a windy day, and the waves were breaking over the rocks. Once I saw the beach, however, I was taken aback and disappointed to see the mounds of trash that had come in with the tides. Ultimately, I was not surprised that I did not find one special shell nor one sea bean, as my heart was simply not into looking through the trash-laden beach. Several others did find some hamburger and heart sea beans as well as some beautiful and unusual shells. I know many cruisers take time to clean the beaches, but we had not come prepared to do that. Even if we had, I think we would have found ourselves overwhelmed. What a shame to find that our beaches are subject to ruin by our uncontrolled trash. And what a contrast to the experience I had walking along pristine Sand Dollar Beach!
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