A circulating photo of the destroyed beach in Naples Florida has left residents of the area disturbed and disappointed. The photo started circulating after the Memorial Day holiday, and it is believed that the tourists treated the area baldly.

The photo shows trash and litter on the beach’s sand. Residents of Naples and other cities in the United States have called out the tourists’ disrespectful manner.

People have taken to social media to voice their dissatisfaction with the look of Naples Beach in Florida. A Reddit user shared a picture of the beach’s aftermath after Memorial Day last year. The poster of the photo expressed concern about how tourists left trash all over the beaches for turtles to crawl through.

Residents of the area complained about how the tourists littered the whole beach leaving it unattended. The locals describe the area as a sea turtle nesting site. They mention how litter can harm the turtles if they eat any of the littered items.

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According to researchers, litter can be life-threatening to many animals including turtles, especially young sea turtle hatchlings. Locals and social media users have classified the tourists as exhibiting bad behavior and manners. They mentioned how the dirty beach can pose a threat to the ecosystem in the area. 

Reports have shown that young turtles have been trapped several times in litter, such as plastic bags, nylon, and cups. Unfortunately, if they are trapped in any of these, they often die because it makes it difficult for them to reach the ocean water for the survival they need.

It is not just the young turtles that can suffer the negative effects of the litter; the adult turtles can also be affected. The leftover trash can also pose a threat to their lives.

Plastic waste and abandoned fishing lines pose a constant threat to sea turtles. Clean Virginia Waterways estimates that each year, these waste products kill over 100,000 animals.

Some animals can also be affected by this dirty beach if they mistakenly take litter for food, for instance, eating plastic. Some animals might mistake plastic for food. Eating this plastic can be dangerous to any animal. Over the years, plastics have been found in the stomachs of animals. 

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An Eckerd College biology professor, Shannon Gowans opined that animals can think they are full after feeding on plastics, hence making them starve to death sometimes. In Gowans’s words, if you try to feed an animal’s stomach, it doesn’t seem hungry; it thinks it is full enough until it starves to death.

When Reddit users posted photos of the dirty beach online, social media users left negative comments insulting tourists for such disappointing behavior.

A Reddit user left a comment suggesting that maybe the poster misspelled the word tourist for terrorist. Commentators believed the tourists could have done better considering the nature of the area.

The locals and social media users suggested the tourists could have done better by making provisions for cleaning up the mess they created before leaving. 

Online users wondered how they could mess up the place so badly and never bother to clean it up after the event. “Sad, people constantly need to be policed,” said a Reddit user. 

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A situation whereby tourists visit a particular town, leaving it trashed, is becoming a trend. Across the United States, there are moves to kick against such acts.

It is believed that most tourists are usually badly behaved. These tourists frequently engage in careless actions that endanger the environment they are in, other people, or themselves.

Florida has lots of attractions and tourists place their focus on the environment. The locals and organizations in Florida have come together to try and protect their beaches and environment. 

Because these tourists still litter beaches, these groups are finding it difficult to effectively oppose these impolite tourists.

Florida, being a tourist state, attracts different people from different places of the world. People can’t be stopped from making their way to the state’s beaches.

But there can be a way to prevent them from causing any form of destruction to the environment in any form. The authorities can implement increasing awareness about the crucial need for beach conservation, enforcing strict regulations on beach activities, promoting responsible tourism practices, and providing proper waste disposal facilities.

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