Jeff Kelly and his children were on the beach in the Outer Banks in North Carolina last week when they found more than two dozen plastic disks. They took photos, telling The Virginian-Pilot they "were really nasty."
The photos were circulated on social media and several people said they recognized them as compressed plastic disks that U.S. Navy vessels use to compact waste for easy storage. The Navy got reports of the compressed disks and Ted Brown, spokesperson for the Navy Fleet Forces Command, told The Virginian-Pilot the disks are not supposed to be dumped in the ocean, but stored in the trash room until the ship reaches port. They typically don't make it to the top deck of the vessels, he said.
David Elder, the ocean-rescue supervisor in Corova Beach, North Carolina, told the paper that similar disks have washed ashore at the beaches of Kill Devil Hills. Heather Cremia, a resident at Kill Devil Hills, told The Virginian-Pilot she has gathered 17 disks since April 27. "They smelled like a dumpster. One was leaking nasty garbage juice." Another one of the disks she found had a logo saying "Commander Naval Service Force."
The Navy has promised to retrieve the trash and investigate where they came from. Brown said that although they aren't labeled, the disks may contain trash with identifiable markings.
Rachael Kalinyak is an editorial intern with Network Solutions.
