I had watched some newscast about abandoned boats "littering" the seas and our coastlines awhile back and thought I should share the gist of the story. Being that I don't have a boat, it's not something I think about. Apparently though, boat owners who have found that they can no longer afford to take care of their boats, paying dock fees and such, and unable to sell, simply let their boats adrift at sea. I'm not just talking small fishing boats, but some are huge yachts, just rotting at sea.The owners are actually sanding away the registry numbers in hopes of not being connected to their discards, but more and more laws are being brought forth to try and deter people from doing this.
There are many reasons why these laws are so important. For one thing, these boats carry toxins like lead, chromium, copper, mercury and zinc that are seeping into our waterways. This, of course, affects the wildlife. Secondly, the boats are causing problems with other vessels trying to navigate the seas. Once a vessel becomes a hazard, it has to be removed, which is expensive and guess who has to pay for that...us! We're paying for it in more ways than one.
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