A few thoughts passed through this old head on Earth Day.

Naturally, not all of them were good.

The worst had to do with a legacy the angling community is leaving behind.

OLD FISHING LINE!

Miles and miles of it are disgarded every year. And lots of it never makes it to a recycling bin or trash can. Instead, it's tossed overboard or allowed to blow into the water from the bottom of a boat.

There, it becomes a trap for wildlife.

Each year, wildlife biologists have to untangle a Lynnhaven River osprey that has gotten tangled in the plastic monofilament. Next time you are in the inlet, look at some of the osprey nests that sit atop of the channel markers. Many of them actually have fishing line woven into the nest. The birds find it on the shorelines. Some are lucky. Others aren't.

Line that makes it to the shore also can endanger waterfowl. How many times have you seen a duck or a goose with line wrapped around its feet, bill or wings?

And line that sinks in the water is a danger to fish, and mammals like dolphins and whales. Who hasn't seen pictures of turtles wrapped in the stuff.

Divers find miles of fishing line in local wrecks, and around the islands of the Chesapeake Bay, Hampton Roads and Monitor-Merrimac bridge-tunnels. Some of it is the result of break-offs. But some has drifted freely for long periods of time before becoming entwined in structure.

"We were about 70 miles offshore last week, bottom fishing," said Capt. Steve Wray of Virginia Beach. "We pulled up a huge knot of long line. That stuff is about 500-pound test line and there isn't any way an animal is gonna get outta that stuff."

Dr. Julie Ball, a Virginia representative to the International Game Fish Association, also was offshore recently. She posted the above picture of her crew's catch - a line ball featuring a spiny dogfish shark that couldn't escape - on a popular fishing chat site.

The point of all of this is that, as stewards of the environment, anglers need to do a better job of protecting the very resource that supports their hobby.

Recycle your fishing line the same way you would any other plastic items.

That way, the legacy fishermen and women leave behind won't have anything to do with fishing line.