Aguirre, L. (2022, January 12). Reef-cleaning group is saving ‘the crown jewel of Florida’. WPLG Local 10. Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022/01/12/reef-cleaning-group-is-saving-the-crown-jewel-of-florida/
Since the 1950’s, the planet has lost half of it’s coral reefs, and pollution is one main reason why. Trash and old fishing equipment is often left in the ocean which damages coral or gets eaten by and kills the animals. An organization called Debris Free Oceans wanted to do something about this. 11 people dove into the ocean a mile offshore from Fisher Island, Florida to clean their reef. By the end of their dive they collected almost 100 pounds of debris.
Pollution in the ocean can be very harmful to coral reefs and the animals living in them. Oftentimes animals like turtles die from starvation and lack of nutrients after only consuming plastic in the ocean. What the people from Debris Free Ocean are doing is great for their ecosystem and might have saved many animals’ lives. I hope people hear about this and get inspired to go out and pick up trash or are even just reminded of the terrible effects of littering.
I love how Debris Free Ocean has made major contributions to mitigating unwanted waste by the coral reefs, however, I wonder how much more trash we need to remove in order to be satisfied?
You are correct that a lot more trash needs to be removed from the ocean in order to be satisfied, and these 11 people will not be able to accomplish that. However, it is great that they are doing this because it is a step in the right direction and hopefully they are inspiring other people all over the world to do the same.