Fire Department, Navy or Army -- Who deals with this?

I ruined someone's day today... I was out on Santa Rosa, assessing the green sea turtle nest that hatched a few days ago and attempting a Piping Plover survey in the 20 mph winds (I don't recommend it...) The nest was interesting -- there was a perfectly formed, full grown albino hatchling. I couldn't tell why he/she didn't emerge, but that's the way it goes sometimes. When I got to Opal Beach, three miles west of the nest, a park visitor waved me over. Just seeing someone is unusual, so usually I avoid people -- who would walk four miles from the gate in the soft sand on a windy, gray day?

The park is usually pretty deserted. Before Hurricane Ivan hit, it was one of the top 10 parks in the US. For some reason, reopening it has not been a priority. We were near the Opal Beach pavilions, which stand in disarray, with caved in walls, tar paper rooves flapping the the breeze and shattered concrete block platforms. The area was named for the hurricane that flattened that section of the park in the 90's, and stands flattened again today... This visitor, one of only 4 I saw on the seven mile stretch, had found rusty, unexploded ordinance of some sort very close to the pavilions. There was scattered debris from others that had exploded in the area. With all the military presence in and around Pensacola, it's not surprising, but it wouldn't be a good thing for the public to find next year when this section of the park is re-opened! Law enforcement wasn't too happy with our find, but they headed out to the stormy beach to take care of it anyway...

On a happier note, I found flowers growing in the dead trees on the eastern edge of the park -- it's starting to recover! There's something about the color yellow -- like buttery sunlight sifting through the broken trees, that restores the soul. It made my day!

09 Oct Update -- I found out the bomblet is called a Mark 23 and does have live ammunition in it. It's a WWII era training device used in the Pensacola area. The bombs also have material that creates a small smoke plume on impact so the pilots can see where the bomb lands. We'll have to evacuate the beach if we find another so that EOD and the Army can remove them. Sounds like a job to do now, before the road re-opens.