The message about being sun smart and hydrated in the heat seems to be well heeded by visitors if the traces left behind are anything to go by. On our December 23rd walk, we were surprised by the number of hats left behind- red, pink, blue….
The breeze was gentle, barely rippling the water and not troubling our hats at all. (The beautiful Christmas spiders of more concern to those who went bare headed but stay tuned for more on that).
However, when a stiff afternoon sea breeze comes gusting across the lake, it would send hats cartwheeling off heads to sail briefly on foam topped waves before sinking into the lake or being caught in the reeds of the lakeshore. Lost and discarded by misadventure rather than deliberately thrown away.
What do the reeds do with these captured ‘treasures’?
One of several hats trapped by reeds and sinking into the mud of the lake.
Where do the microfibres go as this hat breaks down?
Do thrombolites contain nanoplastics?
Beverage containers are noticeably discarded waste marking the edges of the path and leaving rusted skeletons in the shallows.
no water 
dregs of coffee 
rusty beer can skeleton 
another beer please?
What stories could these containers tell?
Where have they come from, who drank from them and how do they feel about being entangled here and becoming redundant and extinct?
Cigarette butts and eutrophication from nutrient rich runoff. Factors that also change the ecology and chances of survival for this Threatened Ecological Community.
Are they the odds offered on the thrombolites surviving?