Maia - Community Count 8th Grader for clean oceans

 Maia's school 

Maia, an 8th grader from Ct., emailed me to get involved. She's written a report on plastics in our ocean. I asked her to tell me what got her interested in this topic, and what's a next step for her now that she knows. Here are her answers.

HOW SHE GOT INTERESTED:

I became interested in this topic because of the fact that I have

always wanted to be a marine biologist since the first time I stepped

foot on the beach. 

After a while I realized just what a huge issue

pollution is causing for local beachs, not only just making them look

unappealing, but causing the waters that people swim in everyday turn

an ugly shade of grey. 

Another reason I became interested in this

topic was because of the fact that sometimes I even see people just

throwing their trash out the windows of theirs cars, and seeing

seagulls attempt to swallow said trash. 

I always feel awful when i see

birds and other animals suffocating and slowly dying on trash, while

their is little I can do to save that particular animal I can reach

out to my community and inform them of what is going on around us.

WHAT MAIA IS GOING TO DO NOW SHE KNOWS THE PROBLEM WITH PLASTICS IN THE OCEAN:

My next step to help end pollution for good is to put posters on

trash cans on the beach and around my school explaining just why they

shouldn't pollute and how one small action can make a huge impact.

Maia is on to a key idea. One small action - sending me an email - got her message out to you. 

You will take this message and share it with others, won't you?

Maia's beach

Maia's report on plastics in the ocean: thanks for a great report!!

Plastic bags, broken bottles, crayons, even appliances slowly float in

the ocean current. That’s what the worlds’ oceans will look like if we

continue littering and polluting. There are two kinds of polluting;

chemical pollution and physical trash.

    Chemical pollution is inside almost every marine animal on the

planet, from plankton; to pink salmon; to polar bears it affects even

us humans when we eat our sushi and shark fin soup. Chemical pollution

can come in many forms, one of the most common being runoff from farms

and cities. Some chemicals that are in the runoff are fertilizer, lawn

care supplies, and other household products. 

The thing that sets

fertilizer apart is the fact that once it gets into the oceans it

causes a reaction called eutrophication; it’s when the nutrients in

the fertilizer causes the algae blooms to flourish and it then

depletes the surrounding water of all it oxygen making it

uninhabitable for other marine life such as fish and other types of

seaweed. Oil spills are also a part of chemical pollution, but only

account for 12% of all the oil that makes its way into the sea. The

other 36% is from cars exhausts and street runoff/storm drains. 80%of

all the urban sewage discharged into the Mediterranean Sea is left

untreated. 

Until the 1970’s people were allowed to dump almost

anything into the ocean; things like toxic waste, chemical weapons,

and radioactive material, were dumped on a regular basis.  In 1972

dumping most toxic materials into the sea was banned worldwide,  but

in 1996 they further restricted what could be dumped.

  Physical garbage is also a massive issue in the world. Soda six-pack

rings pose a problem every day; they choke penguins in Antarctica and

dolphins in South America. However the worst criminals are the helium

balloon and plastic bag, these items are found blocking the airways

and stomachs of seals, whales, dolphins, and turtles who mistake them

for their favorite snack of jelly fish. But that’s not all; they even

get caught on coral reefs, killing them. Sharks all over have been

found with numerous types of trash in their stomachs, from tin cans to

license plates, they take a bite out of everything.

Garbage and pollution are everywhere but just one small action can make a big impact.