When I read letters such as Mr. Sharpe’s it saddens me. I hope Mr Sharpe has contacted Penn Cove Shellfish to voice his concern privately in addition to publicly.

I regularly walk a stretch of beach and pick up debris. In the past few months I have found a dozen or so discs. I have also collected eight large garbage bags of assorted garbage including plastic bottles, pieces of fiberglass, a few tires and so on. Because I love the water, I choose to believe no one deliberately tosses garbage in it.

I choose to clean the beach as I feel it is a privilege to live and work on Whidbey Island. Once I gather a basket of discs I take them to Penn Cove Shellfishs (PCS). When asked if I would like anything, I reply no thank you. For me, I like cleaning the beach. I do not expect anything other than to do a little something for the community. It is good exercise and if I help a local business along the way, great.

I do not believe for one moment that PCS likes to lose their discs from the mussel beds. It is a direct loss of a business asset. I will contact PCS to see if I can help with the area of concern to Mr. Sharpe. If everyone did one nice thing without expectation of something in return, think about our collective impact.

I would like to thanks Ian Jefferds for his consistent respectful response to public criticism. I would also like to thank Mr. Sharpe for pointing out an area of the beach that needs my help!

Kimberly Jaderholm
Coupeville