Rusty nails are a problem on Barbados beaches

The pile of rusty nails, screws and staples, weighing more than 25 pounds, which were removed from three fire pits at Drill Hall Beach yesterday. (Picture by Heather-Lynn Evanson.)
The pile of rusty nails, screws and staples, weighing more than 25 pounds, which were removed from three fire pits at Drill Hall Beach yesterday. (Picture by Heather-Lynn Evanson.)

(Barbados Nation) DAYS AFTER the Barbados Sea Turtle Project sent out a warning about the dangers of fire pits, 25 pounds of rusty nails were collected from a few square feet of one of the island’s most popular beaches yesterday.

 
And deputy director of the Sea Turtle Project, Carla Daniel, is warning that the practice of lighting bonfires poses a danger not only to turtles who come up to nest, but to people and children using the beach.

Yesterday, seven volunteers and Daniel combed the popular Drill Hall beach in the wake of a call, from Daniel, to join her in a clean-up of fire pits there. Before their arrival, she had marked at least eight fire pits which showed obvious signs of nails.

“One of the problems is that people have been using pallets to burn (in the bonfires) and these pallets are full of nails and screws,” she told the DAILY NATION. (HLE)