As the boat’s crew approached that first island off Sebastian and climbed ashore, they had no idea who or what they would find, or what they would learn by the end of the day.
The first person they encountered was Morgan West, 34, of Grant-Valkaria, who was spending a few hours of the partly cloudy day exploring an unnamed spoil island in the Indian River Lagoon. West works in Merritt Island, but enjoys venturing south on her off time to escape to wild Florida.
She tried fishing, but didn’t catch anything. Yet she had better luck combing for art-worthy shells, driftwood and old metal boat parts. The spoil islands are an easy paddle’s distance from town, but they feel a world away – and that’s what draws visitors and campers to these largely unimproved islands.
West was one of about a dozen spoil-island visitors surveyed that day by volunteers for the Palm Bay-based Marine Resources Council, part of an 18-month $18,000 contract with the state Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Following recent reports of human waste on some of the islands, the agencies want to know how people are using them – and how much education they need to provide island visitors to prevent such deposits in the future.
This day was the MRC’s second survey cruise and focused on islands in Indian River County. Kate Zehnder, the council’s development director, took notes as West confirmed she has seen a lot of trash discarded by other island visitors.
“Yes, that’s a big problem,” West said.
But no, she hasn’t seen any human waste – and wouldn’t tolerate visitors leaving that. It doesn’t break down and adds to the lagoon’s pollution, West said, recalling some of her classes in Brevard County schools.
Maybe if the visitors dug a hole and buried it out of sight …
“Out here on the islands, everything goes right into the water,” Zehnder told the volunteers later. “Digging a hole is not going to do that much.”
The DEP has placed WAG bags – or “waste-alleviating and gelling” pouches – on some of the islands. They can be used to contain waste without odor and be tossed in regular garbage. West wasn’t aware of them being available nearby.
“They should have brochures,” she said of restaurants and other tourist businesses along the lagoon.
On an island off Roseland, Zehnder’s husband, Jake Zehnder of Eau Gallie, spoke to Karen Frank of St. Cloud and Ashley MacDonald of Orlando. They had camped there overnight to go fishing in the morning.
“There was no evidence of human waste,” Frank said, adding she had never heard of WAG bags.
But rats? Yes, MacDonald said.
“I saw three,” she said. “They tried to make it into our food. They were like mini-bears.”
Barchan Rogers, an environmental specialist with the DEP’s Indian River Lagoon Aquatic Preserves, took his turn with the volunteers. In the shadow of a derelict motor yacht, he talked to Casey Wiles of Hollywood and Sarah Marshall of Riviera Beach.
They women said they didn’t know each other and had never met before this day on the island. But they knew about the human waste.
“There’s couches and weird stuff going on,” Wiles, 37, said of possible island squatters. “And I’ve seen that human waste. They should have bags.”
“If not, a 5-pound bucket,” said Marshall, 40.
Since the original reports of human waste in recent months, many residents have asked how authorities could tell if the discoveries were truly human in origin and not from a visitor’s dog.
“Sometimes you see toilet paper by it,” Wiles said. “And that’s disgusting.”
She wasn’t far off, DEP spokesman Weesam Khoury said later.
His colleagues, he said, could tell the human origin “based on the smell and appearance.”
“Additionally, the presence of toilet paper and illegal man-made toilets are another indicator,” he added.