Marine Awareness

In the last year, new statistics have come through on plastic pollution.

What are the statistics now?

It was discovered that last year, in 2022, there is now an estimated 75 to 199 million tons of plastic waste in the ocean. This includes an extra 33 billion pounds of plastic being exposed to marine wildlife every single year.

Many sharks, turtles, whales, dolphins and sea birds mistake items such as balloons, plastic bags, plastic bottles and general litter as food.

As a result of ingesting these things, marine animals both slowly starve to death from the blockage in their digestive systems and can get entangled in the waste and die from suffocation.

The current and endless increase in the amount of plastic waste in the ocean equals the weight of 1,345 blue whales. Blue Whales are the world's biggest mammal, each weighing a maximum of 441,000 pounds.

Every single day, rubbish trucks have to continue dumping countless tons of plastic waste into the sea. At some point sooner or later, the same plastic waste will come back into shore, only for it to be thrown away before again being thrown back into the ocean. The cycle never stops.

By paying firm attention to the plastic we buy, how much we actually have to use and how we can reduce, reuse and recycle it, we can still give our marine animals and oceans a chance to survive.

Let's not give up on this crisis and let's continue to raise and spread awareness

Together, we can save our oceans.

Dolphins! 😊

These incredible creatures are the most sociable marine manmals on the planet, who love linking up not just with other members of their own kind but sometimes dolphins of other species.

Why is this?

Dolphins need to rely on each other to hunt socialise, communicate and protect each other. Their survival purely depends on each other and the bonds made between them. Some pods can reach over 1,000 dolphins. The largest number of Common Dolphins recorded in a single gathering is 10,000!

Newborn dolphins can swim as soon as they break free of the umbilical cord that binds them to their mother. It's priority is to reach surface for air. It's mother - or even another adult female - helps the newborn upwards by nudging it with her beak.

Common Dolphins can be found all over the world, mainly in the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Mediterranean Ocean.

The average person eats approximately 70,000 microplatsics every year.

Microplatsics (tiny pieces of deteriorated plastic waste) are not only a threat to marine wildlife and our oceans but they are steadily becoming an increasing risk to human life.

By this point in time, microplatsics are now polluting the entire planet, from the deepest depths of the ocean all the way up to the highest soil point on land.

As a result of there having been a humongous amount of people who threw away plastic after only using it once/ or a few times (even when it could have lasted for ages longer), means we will at some point be consuming their plastic waste.

What's worse, is that if we don't reduce, reuse and recycle the way we should now before it's too late, the next generation will be at risk of consuming our own plastic waste too!

This could result in unknown illness or disease coming about, possibly even damaged internal organs.

The statement in which the average person eats 70,000 microplatsics every year works out to be up to 100 pieces in just one meal. That's quite a scary realisation.

Let's step up together and preserve not only our animals and oceans but also our health and food and water supplies.

63% of Ships in the North Sea of contain synthetic fibres - which could have very easily come from our washing machines.

Microplatsics (which are tiny pieces of plastic broken up from other plastic waste) also find their way into not only Shrimps, but many other marine animals stomachs. This also includes Sharks.

Not only by continuing to use less plastic, but by purchasing clothing of second-hand garments where possible, not only reserves marine wildlife but keeps us safe!

This is due to the fact that food we may want to eat, such as Shrimp, Fish and Squid, may have ingested plastic. That then puts us at risk of ingesting it ourselves: our own plastic waste!

Respect the ocean. Protect the ocean 🌊

The amount of plastic bags that has been made, used once/ or a few times and thrown away has been viciously rising since 2009. It is estimated that 8 billion bags litter Europe every year.

The moment plastic and rubbish is disposed or swept into the ocean, the damage inflicted on marine wildlife is incredibly severe. Sooner or later, animals become entangled in plastic, ingest it and develop a disease and/ or die slowly and painfully.

Recent discoveries have stated that between the last 25 to 30 years, 10% of dead animals found in sea clean ups were entangled in plastic bags.

Animals such as Dolphins, Fish, Seals, Sea Birds and Otters can very easily get caught in plastic bags and are some of the most common marine animals at threat of dying from plastic pollution.

Here are some simple and effective tips to help tackle this issue:

1) Reuse the bags you already have. If you don't have any, buy reusable ones and make them last.

2) Colour coordinate your bags in order to help sort food waste and recycling. Reuse them until they are completely worn out.

3) Use a backpack whenever is possible to carry food or items.

This is a Blanket Octopus! 😍

Blanket Octopus' are some of the planets most unique and bizarre deep sea creatures, not only through their figure and colours, but the size difference.

Females can grow up to an incredible 6ft long, with males are less than an inch long! This means females can also weigh up to 40,000 more than males.

What's referred to as their "blankets" is actually a defence mechanism. When threatened, it unfurls it's blankets to appear larger.

They are also immune to the toxins in the world's most dangerous Jellyfish - the Portugese Man O'War. They have the ability to rip off its tentacles!

Blanket Octopus' are some of the rarest and most stunning sea creatures on the planet, but if seen, should not be approached quickly or aggressively.

They reside in coral reefs in tropical and sub tropical waters.

From Marine Awareness...
Happy New Year! 😄🎉

I want to thank everybody for all their shared support in helping raise awareness for marine wildlife last year.

Everything from spreading the statistics on plastic pollution to encouraging others on finding further ways to reduce, reuse and recycle and ultimately learning about our marine wildlife and the importance our animals have to our world.

It's already beginning to make a big difference!

Last year was only the beginning of myself trying to raise awareness through my page and petitions. This year, there shall be many more fascinating new posts to come and more solutions in which we can continue to strive in saving our oceans.

Here's to a new year,
a new start and new possibilities!

Bring on 2022 🐋🐬🌏

https://chng.it/cKRnSBGD

Ever since I started the petition "Ban plastic six-pack rings and save the turtles", it has reached an astounding 4,516 supporters! I want to give huge thanks and apprecistion to those who have signed and/ or shared already.

In order for this petition to potentially be brought to government attention, 484 more supporters (signs) are needed for this to happen.

So, please, please share this petition and encourage others to read and sign. Spreading this and helping raise awarness can preserve not only Sea Turtles but thousands of other marine wildlife species.

Thank you 🙏🌏

Sign the Petition Ban plastic six-pack rings and save the turtles!

Fins are for sharks. NOT for soups!

Sharks kill approximately 12 people every year. But, people kill up to 11,417 per hour. Think that's all? Every year, 70 MILLION sharks are killed for their fins.

For the over the last century, Shark fins have been used in soups throughout China, as well as in Chinese medicine. A lot of people don't care about this. So, why should we? Here's why:

Sharks play a vital part in keeping the oceans ecosystems running and helping maintain ocean health by removing the weak, sick and dying creatures.

If we had no sharks in the ocean whatsoever, our fish portions would quadruple and they would sooner or later eat up all the shrimps, molluscs and other microorganisms needed to survive. As a result, all fish would eventually starve to death.

Above all, Shark finning is a cruel, wicked and barbaric form of torture which leaves them dying a slow, painful death through downing or loss of blood.

This is NOT how our animals should be treated!

A capacious Beluga Whale!

Beluga Whales are incredibly sociable animals, known to travel in large pods and sometimes mix with other groups on a regular basis. They live in the cold Arctic and sub - Arctic waters of the northern hemisphere, being mainly popular around Alaska.

Unfortunately, Beluga Whales lives have high levels of threat and danger due to the fact thay they are common prey for Orcas and Polar Bears. This includes being hunted by humans and being forced behind aquarium tanks to be stared at for marketing purposes. This lack of freedom and privacy still continues to this day.

As a result, the Beluga Whale population has dropped immensely low by at least 80% in the last 30 years. The current number stands at around 279 today! That's a horribly low statistic.

Belugas feast on a broad range of fish, but will mainly eat squid, cod, crab, herring and salmon. In the wild, at most, they can live for approximately 40 years. Although, it's more likely to be somewhere between 30 and 35.