From getting tangled in fishing line to eating algae covered plastic, marine animals the world over are suffering.
Fish, sea turtles, and birds are eating the plastic we throw away. Often, they think it’s food. A plastic bag floating in the water looks like a jellyfish and ends up in a sea turtle’s stomach. Algae covered plastic smells like food to fish who gobble it up. Seabirds eat more plastic than any other animal and die hungry.
Scientists believe that by midcentury (that’s when you Middle Schoolers will be adults) the ocean will contain more plastic than fish.
What can you do?
Best Answer: Limit single-use plastic. It take hundreds of years for plastic to biodegrade. Is that really worth it for a five-minute drink out of a plastic bottle or straw? And remember those reusable grocery bags? Make your parents use them.
Next Best Answer: Recycle what you do use. A whopping 91% of all plastic isn’t recycled!
In the following cringe-worthy video, biologists off the coast of Costa Rica use pliers to pull a four-inch-long straw out of the nose of a male olive ridley sea turtle. It’s hard to watch. Watch it anyway. I bet you’ll think twice before letting anyone around you throw garbage in the ocean. I know I will.
**Kids, do yourself (and me) a favor, if you watch the long version on youtube, watch it with the sound turned down. The scientists get a bit excited and use language that your parents probably don’t want to hear blasting in your living room (I know you hear it every day. Still, let’s keep the focus on the sea turtles.)
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