My Speech

My Speech by Isabella

 Are we doing enough to look after our oceans?

You’ve just pulled up at the beach. The water’s completely black. In the distance is a gull, with plastic strangling its neck. There’s hundreds of dead fish stranded on the sand. The only other thing you see is a dolphin, stuck in a fishing net.

Every year over 100,000 marine mammals are killed just from plastic in the sea. Plastic bags are often eaten because they’re mistaken for jellyfish. When an animal eats the plastic, it makes their stomach full. But when they feel hungry they can’t eat anything because they’re full. So eventually, they starve to death. If that’s not bad enough, there is actually 13,000 pieces of litter per square kilometre of the sea, and it’s us who put it there.

Another major thing that kills marine life is oil spills. Oil spills or even oil leakages can be caused when boats carrying oil capsized or when oil rigs are leaking. Oil spills are the worst environmental disaster that can happen. They contaminate the water and are unsafe for all living things. When an oil spill occurs, the water will turn black and smell like petrol or gas.

Hundreds of dolphins are getting killed just from fishing nets. Why? It takes 3-4 hours for the fishing nets to get back to the boat. A dolphin can hold its breath for 8-10 minutes. Unfortunately, when a dolphin gets caught in a net, it drowns because it’s been underwater for too long.

If you want more sea life, I think we should be doing more to look after our oceans and seas. If you don’t litter, there could be 100,000 more marine creatures. Or maybe try to catch your own fish, to stop killing the dolphins. So, are you going to think twice before you drop your litter?

By Isabella, 23/6/17