All sorts of jetsam and flotsam appear on Whidbey Island beaches. Beachcombers may find agates, rough jade, wave-whittled driftwood or even fossils of woolly mammoth. They also find fishing line, pop bottles and cans, pizza boxes and discarded underwear. And plastic foam in every size from millimeter particles to cubic meter blocks. Cheryl May remembers finding portions of a Port-A-Pottie on Ala Spit.

“It was just the walls, we never found the rest of it,” May said as she scanned the driftline at Joseph Whidbey State Park for debris. May identifies Double Bluff State Park and Fort Casey Spit as the county’s most trashed beaches. She says currents carry refuse — much of it from Seattle — and deposit it daily on the westside beaches.

“I take the same junk off the beach every time I go. And I’m out on the spit several times a week,” May said.

May said the biggest problems are plastic foam and plastic mesh. “It never goes away. This stuff lasts forever,” May said. As foam and mesh degrade into incremently smaller bits, they become more deadly to wildlife.

“This piece is awful,” May said holding out a millimeter-sized fragment of plastic foam. “To a fish or a bird, these nodules look like lunch.” When a fish mistakes the foam for an egg case, the ever-light plastic changes the fish’s buoyancy. The fish can’t sink. It floats to the surface where it dies. A bird that eats foam — thinking it must be fine dining — starves because the stuff never digests and the bird never has room for actual food.

Foam of all types — boat interiors, meat and produce trays, fast food containers — washes up.

May said enormous blocks from container ships was ashore after storms. The huge blocks break down into deadly bits.

Mesh from nylon rope, produce sacks and nets entangle animals: octopus, birds, seals, fish. Mesh is favored as nest-building materials.

“It’s light and weaveable,” May said. “But birds get tangled in it and can’t get away. Babies often die in the nests.”

May organizes volunteer groups to clean the county’s public beaches. She provides refuse bags and gloves for everyone. At the end of the roughly two-hour stint, May collects bags and hauls refuse to Island County Transfer Station. WSU Cooperative Extension and Island County split the dumping fee. A group of volunteers from the dental clinic at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station joined her Saturday, Aug. 16.

The beach-cleaning crew made quite a haul in two hours: several large pieces of plastic foam, dilapidated underwear, cigarette butts, prophylactics, fireworks remnants, cans, bottles, carpet and many tiny pieces of plastic.

Reynold Alonso made his first visit to Joseph Whidbey State Park Aug 16. While gazing at eagles and shorebirds, the dental corpsman kept a sharp lookout for plastic.

“It’s nice out here,” he said while stuffing a weathered block of foam in a trash bag.

Dental Liaison Jesse Orozco collected cans along with socks, shorts and women’s underwear.

“I’m glad I came out today,” he said wrinkling his nose he delicately stuffed unmentionables in his bag. From far above the water line, he disentangled a large net from driftwood, sand verbena, dried beach pea and seashore lupine.

“I love the views. Since my family will be living here, I wanted to get started making the island better for everyone,” Ronnie de los santos said. The dental clinic’s lead petty officer had organized the group of volunteers. De los santos is building a home on Whidbey Island.

“When Cheryl gets her beach adoption program going, I hope the dental clinic can adopt this beach,” he said.

On their way back to the parking lot with their trashy treasures, the group removed a tire from the marsh. May said foam-filled tires are used as bumpers on tugs and other boats. They often break away from sides of boats and wash up on beaches and eventually get blown into marshes. May suspected this tire came from a dock or large bouy since it carried wood with nails and screws.

The volume of trash removed from beaches each month is large. “Easily a ton of trash is taken away each month,” May said. “And it’s all done by volunteers.”

Don Meehan, WSU/Island County Cooperative Extension agent, describes the program as “cost-effective” and “inspiring.”

The state allocates counties money for road cleaning. In Island County, an extensive network of volunteers keep roadside trash under control, Meehan said. The state’s flexible program allows counties to use the money for other cleaning.

“We pay Cheryl to coordinate the program and she does a terrific job of getting volunteers,” Meehan said. “The number of people she finds all year round is amazing.”

May said she always is “surprised and pleased” at the number of people who come out each time she announces a beach cleaning. “Tremendous people come from every part of the island,” she said. “This program would be nothing without volunteers. No matter if it’s winter and rain is blowing sideways, whole families and businesses come out.”