G : My best friend Katy lives near a beautiful
white sand beach. Her parents take us there every
summer. The water is clean and refreshing. We
have a lot of fun in the waves. Last year, there was
an oil spill at Katy’s beach. We volunteered at the
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beach to clean up the oil and help the birds that
were caught in the spill.
When we arrived at the beach that day, the
water was slick with oil and the white sand had
turned black. It was an ugly sight. At first, the
rescue workers would not let us on the beach.
We had to watch from a distance. We watched
as they put a huge float in the water, called a
boom. This device kept the oil slick from
spreading. Once they stopped the slick, we were
allowed on the beach to help. Each of us was
given a broom. We swept the oil into a pile. The
workers took it away in big trucks. We all
worked very hard that day to restore the beach.
Once the oil was removed, the birds that had
been caught in the oil had to be helped. The
workers showed us how to remove the oil from
their wings. Then the birds could fly away to
safety. We were very proud of ourselves that day.
We helped save our beautiful beach and the
birds who visit it.