Plastic Predator by Bláthnaid

Hello everyone, Bláthnaid wanted to write a blog today. We have all been watching Blue Planet II and experiencing very mixed feelings about the future our seas, oceans and coasts. The excitement of the stories that the animals tell us is amazing but also how they survive in an environment which is constantly being compromised by human hands is equally if not more so, despairing. Bláthnaid really wanted to share her thoughts.

I hope you enjoy it

Dara

Plastic Predator

The biggest predator is us, humans,  but we (well not me!) have thrown so much plastic in our oceans that our species have given birth to another predator. Without any heart or lungs to breathe, yet it destroys some of our most amazing creatures in our oceans and skies. Big plastic such as straws, bags and balloons swallowed by creatures, filling their bellies so they go hungry and die or entangling creatures which choke and die. Heartbreaking.

Smaller bits of plastic, looking like plankton are mixing up with real food, it tricks animals and poisons them. They die. They die because of us. They die because we are wasteful. They die because we are carelessly throwing away things that don’t belong in our oceans.

It’s so unfair on the creatures who think that it is food. Predator plastic, predator human. Destroyers of the ocean. Wake up. Clean up. Get your hands dirty. Make our oceans clean again. Every time you are at the beach and you see lots of plastic, pick it up!!! Do a 2 minute beach clean! Bring it to the recycling and properly put it in its place. Every time you are in a restaurant, refuse a straw. You don’t need it! Stop buying bottled water, buy a cup for life and fill it up every time! Mum drinks a lot of coffee but she always has a cup in the car! Bring your own containers to the butcher or wherever you are buying things that need extra packaging. If everyone did this or even better, if there were laws which told us to do this, we could turn back the clock and give our oceans more time. Time to recover and time to be clean again.

I made a little video too.

[wpvideo KvOg6j3R ]

I really love Blue Planet because it is helping me learn so much about our oceans, did you know that half of all the oxygen we breathe comes from the oceans and it is created by the smallest creatures called phytoplankton. Microscopic single cells which are so so important to the health of our world. I love the ocean, I have been learning all about it at home (I am homeschooled) and I now realise how important this amazing habitat is for all life. I fear for the future of our oceans, if we sit back and do nothing, did you know the plastic thrown away now, will still be a threat long after we are dead.

The damage lives on long after you do! Think about that! Please visit Marine Conservation Society and take on the plastic challenge, we have, and we will be keep everyone updated on the blog. Can you do the same? Also, can anyone tell me what to do about milk bottles!!! That is going to be the biggest challenge for us. Bring back milkmen!! I have sent what I have written to Michael Gove and I’m going to keep writing until I get a reply, I want to know what he is going to do about this catastrophic problem!!

Other people who are helping our oceans –

Homepage

https://friendsoftheearth.uk//welcome

Thanks for reading my little blog and thanks to my mum for all her help. Also, the photos included came from the internet and were free to use. Except the beach clean one with me and my brothers, that’s ours)

Bláthnaid Age 7

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15 Responses

  1. Like brother, like sister. What a talented family you are, and all the better for your love of our natural world
    Keep up the good work
    Wendy

  2. Humans have invented a new predator, plastic. What a great line!! Blathnaid, that is a great blog, but that line has a real ring to it. You really need to send this to Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, who are campaigning hard on this issue. Plastic Predator is such a great way of telling people how we are ruining our planet.
    We think you and your brothers are wonderful and you give us hope for the future.
    Thank you for caring and for all you do.

    Kindest regards
    Paul and Melanie Fisher

  3. Thank you for sharing this. I do my best for the environment by buying and using less plastic, creating less waste and recycling. I use canvas bags, don’t buy takeaways (luckily I don’t like coffee), and am more conscious of what I consume and throw away. But it’s not easy, I’m old enough to remember a time when food was wrapped in paper, not plastic. I think packaging and labelling controls should be stricter; the fat/sugar/salt/calorie content on foods should be displayed on the front of packaging alongside the recycling information, with companies given a deadline of when to make all packaging recyclable.

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