What Is Happening on the Shores of Fairhaven?

When I saw this I thought, wow, that's an abnormally large amount of garbage behind Riverside Cemetery in Fairhaven.

A friend and Fairhaven resident came upon this last week and posted pictures on his Facebook page in complete disgust. I have to say that I completely agree with him, this is awful. To think that this is what's in our ocean and it's inevitably making its way to our shorelines and beaches.

I can't help but wonder, could all of this washed-up garbage be coming from the various cruise ships over the years?

Carnival Cruise Lines was caught dumping trash into the ocean on multiple occasions and was recently fined $20 million because of it. What makes this even more alarming is that they tried to cover it up.

"During an audit of the cruise ship Carnival Elation in December,” explained the New York Times, “Officials found that food waste had been mixed with plastic straws, aluminum and other miscellaneous items, which were ‘ready to be discharged down the chute and then overboard while at sea,’ records show.”

This makes me absolutely sick to my stomach for two reasons. First, that I've been on more than one Carnival Cruise and you can mark my words, we'll choose a different cruise line next time. Second, it's so sad to think that this garbage is coming in with the tide onto our SouthCoast shorelines. The Buzzards Bay Coalition works so tirelessly to keep our local waters and harbors healthy and clean, and to know that this is happening is so discouraging.

There is a clean-up gathering which will be organized by Fairhaven residents coming this spring. If you want to get involved, keep a lookout on the various Facebook groups looking to clean up this awful mess.