If we kill the oceans, our demise hastens

RECENTLY a young whale beached itself and died in a Norwegian harbour.

Because of its apparently unhealthy condition, it was examined by marine experts from the University of Bergen, and its stomach discovered to be full of plastic, many shopping bags clearly from Denmark and the UK: the direct cause of its stressfully untimely death.

On closer examination, the once pristine coast around that area of Norway reveals astonishing amounts of plastic washed up daily.

In the northern Pacific Ocean, a floating “garbage patch” of plastic, larger than Texas, attracting other toxins, generates a death trap for marine animals; whales, dolphins, seals, turtles, sea birds such as albatrosses, and thousands of other species.

This dire situation, created entirely by human irresponsibility, presents a twofold solution. All responsible individuals must immediately stop buying plastic shopping bags, purchasing and conscientiously using re-usable biodegradable bags and demand that all supermarkets sell such bags and urge customers to use them.

Furthermore, in the absence of South African government action in enforcing a ban on plastic shopping bags (recently adopted in Kenya), supermarkets must demonstrate their contribution to the health of our planet by beginning to refuse to sell single-use plastic bags.

Apathy and passivity is the most dangerous attitude possible. We are all morally obliged to become activists in the face of this calamitous threat.

“If our oceans die, we die!”

ALLEYN DIESEL Blackridge