'Save Our Seas" is abbreviated to S.O.S. and this is no longer a coincidence.
Our oceans are in danger and human pollution is a serious contributing factor. Why is the highlight of a beach party to leave all of the trash on the sand? Why is it cool to see who can throw their bottle the farthest into the dark waters? We so carelessly throw trash, like soda rings, into the ocean without a second thought; this article is that second thought.
As that plastic soda ring floats along the waves, so could a bird suffocating in it. When someone hears the word 'ocean' the first things that come to mind are typically dolphins, fish, corals, boats, sharks, etc. The first thoughts are not usually landfills pouring into the water, whales eating trash, shark finning, or turtles swallowing plastic bags.
There is a lot of controversy about the baby-boomer generation ruining our futures with things like housing costs, minimum wage not being enough to support anymore, job markets crashing, etc. It seems like everyone has an opinion on what the previous generation did wrong, but never asks what we might be doing wrong. If we keep ruining our planet, our children and grandchildren will be looking at our generation in that same light. The problems that we cause won’t be things with potential solutions, it will be a planet that can't heal.
Stop and think about raising a child and having to explain how your generation killed so many animals that you can't go whale watching anymore. Imagine your child telling you that the sea turtle is their favorite animal and having to tell them that there aren't any left, It doesn't leave a good feeling. I know that not everyone can have an immediate effect, but our oceans need us and everyone can make a difference if we can just care enough to.
Take a Saturday to dedicate to cleaning up a local beach, use reusable bags, raise media awareness for our marine life, form organizations to raise awareness and/or money to be donated, research what you can personally do, 'adopt' a marine animal from an aquarium, volunteer at places that work with ocean life, read up more about the issues at hand, be respectful at the beaches, don't let people throw trash in the waters in front of you. There are so many options left and we should take them, while we still can.
We can be the change that this planet needs and our oceans can be the first step.
With such a heavy social media presence, we are the generation that could make a difference, but we have to want to.
