This Has To Stop!

Hey guys,

This week All Access was stationed at George's Island. The last time I was at George's was in elementary school, so it has been a while since I have been there. We had a fishing group and a group that was scaring people. Our fishing group caught one of the most exciting catches of the week, an MGBL (mixed gene blue lobster). We all wanted to keep it but we had to let it go back into its habitat. Most of us had the opportunity to 

MGBL

visit the dark tunnel where only the brave dared to enter. I was scared for my life, when I entered the tunnel it was literally pitch black. It was like closing my eyes as if I was going to sleep but I was walking. The best part of it was scaring the little kids who looked terrified holding onto their counselors. 

Our Harbor is pretty clean and safe for people to swim in because of all the treatment, time and money that went into the clean up of the harbor years ago. Although it looks clean there are new threats to the water, like plastic. I've seen some plastic cups floating in the Harbor but it's not as much as I see on land. There was a chair fished out by one of our groups at the Boston Children’s Museum. All the plastic in the ocean directly affects marine life because some consume it, which can be harmful both chemically and physically to the animal. Once they digest it, it can cause severe damage if it's a sharp object and can kill them or deteriorate their bodies.

Hiding in the haunted tunnel!

Those who eat sea creatures like fish, crabs, shrimp, etc. are possibly at risk for consuming animals that have eaten plastic. Like in the food chain, once humans eat those fish, we are now receiving the same contamination that the fish has.

To prevent this from happening, we can start recycling and using materials that aren't harmful to the environment if our trash ends up in the water. We can use paper bags which I've seen are being distributed in a lot of stores instead of plastic bags. Another suggestion though is using the reusable cloth bags which will most likely not be thrown away. Another way to help keep the ocean from collecting plastic is using reusable water bottles, and not the plastic ones! There are 3 billion pounds of water bottles being added each year to landfills which have the potential in ending up in the ocean. 

In addition to taking action in my every day life, I have shared pictures on social media about the affects of human pollution on the environment. Sharing information allows more people to know about it, so they can share it and spread the world. The only way to make others more conscious of what they're doing is to show them who and what they are effecting: the marine life and themselves. Keeping them informed that plastic in the ocean is a world-wide issue will lead to small actions that create bigger impacts.

Thanks for tuning in,

Keren Osorio

P.S. Catch me kayaking and cleaning up the waterfront tomorrow