Short Stories

Oceans for Thought

The oceans are a curious place. Ever since I was eight, I had a fascination with the oceans and everything that once lived inside them. It began when my dad took me to the aquarium one summer. The hundreds of multicolored fish, graceful dolphins, and powerful sharks amazed my youthful eyes. It was such a shame that these creatures did not exist in the wild anymore.

Fast forward twelve years and I found myself working in an aquarium. I wanted to be closer to the creatures that fascinated me. I wanted to learn their secrets and dive into their hidden realm. And the aquarium was the only place I could do so.

However, this was not enough for a budding marine biologist like me. I wanted to find a wild dolphin or a free shark. That was my dream. That was also the reason I found myself aboard the Mystic, a ship captained by Henry Blanc designed to find ocean wildlife. We were headed to the only place that a wild dolphin, shark, or tropical fish might still live: the Plastic-Free Ocean Reserve, located twenty miles off the coast of Australia.

The first thing that struck me as we left the shore was the sheer amount of plastic that was haphazardly floating throughout the waves. If someone were to try to count the amount of water bottles alone, they'd be in the tens of thousands. And that is just a fraction of the total amount of plastics.

It would be a small wonder for anything to live here.

As we sailed farther away from shore, my hope diminished along with the shoreline. It appeared my dreams had been mere dreams. How had the previous generations been so ignorant to have polluted the oceans beyond repair?

"We're approaching the Reserve. Keep an eye out for anything moving."

The captain cut the motor as we sailed up to a giant net in the middle of the ocean. A gap just small enough for a small boat became visible and our boat glided smoothly through. One thing became evident as I looked around.

Even the Plastic-Free Reserve was not plastic-free. Bits of plastic waste floated through the gap in the net. This was not a Reserve. Just a fancy name for a small space in the water surrounded by a net. Why the government thought this would work, I had no clue.

And then it hit me. They wanted to conceal the plastic epidemic and make it appear as though they had the waste under control. It would take too much funding to do any real work.

So why was it that previous generations did nothing? While the plastic epidemic was clear enough to see, but early enough to be reversed. Why did we have to suffer because of their lack of conservation? Nobody will ever see a wild dolphin again, all thanks to the plastic pollution epidemic.

Maybe they could have saved us before it was too late.

For the Planet or Plastic contest.