There is nothing like that moment when your feet sink into the cool, wet sand and the smell of sea salt hits your nose. The warm , humid air rustles your hair and the frigid water sloshes around your ankles and drops seashells between your toes. The home to bottle nose dolphins, Atlantic pelicans, Loggerhead sea turtles, and Moon Jellyfish that frequently wash up on shore, this place is dream-like even in March when I am there every year. The stars are bright, the sand is white and seashells are abundant. The only thing that you can hear is the crashing of waves and, in early morning, the singing of the dolphins that play in the white caps. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is the most beautiful place on earth.
But while this beauty of the beaches brings thousands of tourists to Horry County every year, because of Western society this oceanic ecosystem is under siege. Back in the time of the Waccamaw natives, the people and the wildlife lived in harmony with each other, because they understood that one does not control the other. But now, pollution, over fishing and bycatching is destroying the habitat of 230, 000 species of marine life.
Every year the United States of America produces 15 billion pounds of plastic and only about 1 billion is recycled. The other 14 billion has to go somewhere. While a lot of it goes into landfill sites around the country, a significant proportion is dumped into waterways and eventually the ocean with rain water because someone left it laying on the ground. Thrown down carelessly and forgotten. Many animals mistake this toxic, plastic garbage for a light snack and it eventually kills the animals by accumulating in the digestive tract of the creature. Also, garbage like the plastic rings off of pop cans and plastic bags get caught or tangled up in the fins or around the mouths and necks of dolphins, porpoises and sea turtles. Strangling them, drowning them, or starving them. All this because of someone too lazy to put something in a trash can. What a cruel way to die.
Over fishing on the other hand, is completely intentional. Most companies that you can find in the frozen section at your local grocery store over fish. Over fishing happens when more fish than needed is caught. They target one species of fish and harvest them until numbers are so low, so they move on to another species. Imagine factory trawlers with fishnets as large as four football fields and how many fish that can wipe out in one go. Not only does this method of fishing kill of giant schools of fish and cause a collapse in the oceanic ecosystem, decimating an entire ocean food chain, but it also causes people to lose their jobs and businesses such as small fisheries to close.
But not only the targeted fish that these trawlers seek out are in danger. These giant fish nets and longline fishing techniques are a death sentence to whales, sharks, dolphins, seals, birds, and sea turtles. Bycatching is when unintended marine life is caught and killed with the targeted group of fish and every year upwards of 300 000 cetaceans and a staggering 100 million sharks of all sizes are killed from these greedy companies. Whenever a marine animal that was not supposed to be there is caught in a net it is discarded overboard, already dead or severely injured. Not only is this travesty cruel to the animals that are killed, but it is completely possible to reduce the amount of bycatching. Specialized and selective nets can be substituted to reduce the amount of unwanted animals that are dragged up and pingers can be used to deter dolphins from hanging around fish trawlers.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
'He-y Come on Ou-t" Journal (#5)
The environmental issue that affects me the most is environmental deterioration and degradation. As a Wiccan, nature itself is sacred like a church and every day there is less and less real nature. Natural habitats are destroyed, creatures are becoing extinct, the environment is strained and biodiversity is slowly becoming none existant.
Every 20 minutes, a distinct species of plant or animal becomes extinct and close to 75% of wetland and forest habitats have been lost because of human invasion on wild areas. This does not include deforestation. People take no regard for the fact that the land they "own" was once the homes of plants and animals.
Like in the short story "He-y Come on Ou-t", people have tried to make a difference but only ended up doing more harm then what they started with. Many wildlife reserves cause more damage than if people had left them well alone. A wildlife reserve in Japan to protect the rare Great Pandas ended up being more harme than benifit compared to the surounding areas.
Every 20 minutes, a distinct species of plant or animal becomes extinct and close to 75% of wetland and forest habitats have been lost because of human invasion on wild areas. This does not include deforestation. People take no regard for the fact that the land they "own" was once the homes of plants and animals.
Like in the short story "He-y Come on Ou-t", people have tried to make a difference but only ended up doing more harm then what they started with. Many wildlife reserves cause more damage than if people had left them well alone. A wildlife reserve in Japan to protect the rare Great Pandas ended up being more harme than benifit compared to the surounding areas.
"Mirror Image" Journal (#1)
"She’s our daughter!" shrilled Mrs. Jarred.
"No, that girl is not my little Gail. That isn’t her in there." Mr. Jarred said calmly. He had to make his wife understand.
Mrs. Jarred had been devastated when the doctors had told them that Gail was never coming back. While her heart was still beating, and her lungs were still taking in air, her brain was dead.
Gail had been out partying with her friends when she had fallen down a flight of stairs and hit her head. Nothing had been broken, and with the dulling affect of the alcohol, she hadn’t even felt the pulsating pain in her head. When she had returned home and went to sleep that night, she went into a coma, and eventually became brain dead. Mrs Jarred, not being able to revive her daughter, called 911 immediately. But by that time, it was too late.
Mrs. Jarred, at the time, had supported her husbands decision to donate Gail’s body to the hospital. He knew that was what Gail would have wanted, even though she had never filled out her Organ Donation card.
Knowing his wife was on the verge of tears, Mr. Jarred didn’t want to push the matter but when he had met Alice, he could tell that she, as well as them, was having her own hardships. Alice deserved to be stood up for too.
"I am sure that the poor girl is having enough difficulties without our inability to get a grip on this new reality. We need to let her live her life, dear." Mr. Jarred said with finality as his wife gave him a scorching glare.
While this particular conversation was over, he was sure that they would have this argument again.
‘Your doing the right thing.’ he assured himself silently as he watched his wife stalk off tearfully. And remembering Alice, he actually believed it this time.
"No, that girl is not my little Gail. That isn’t her in there." Mr. Jarred said calmly. He had to make his wife understand.
Mrs. Jarred had been devastated when the doctors had told them that Gail was never coming back. While her heart was still beating, and her lungs were still taking in air, her brain was dead.
Gail had been out partying with her friends when she had fallen down a flight of stairs and hit her head. Nothing had been broken, and with the dulling affect of the alcohol, she hadn’t even felt the pulsating pain in her head. When she had returned home and went to sleep that night, she went into a coma, and eventually became brain dead. Mrs Jarred, not being able to revive her daughter, called 911 immediately. But by that time, it was too late.
Mrs. Jarred, at the time, had supported her husbands decision to donate Gail’s body to the hospital. He knew that was what Gail would have wanted, even though she had never filled out her Organ Donation card.
Knowing his wife was on the verge of tears, Mr. Jarred didn’t want to push the matter but when he had met Alice, he could tell that she, as well as them, was having her own hardships. Alice deserved to be stood up for too.
"I am sure that the poor girl is having enough difficulties without our inability to get a grip on this new reality. We need to let her live her life, dear." Mr. Jarred said with finality as his wife gave him a scorching glare.
While this particular conversation was over, he was sure that they would have this argument again.
‘Your doing the right thing.’ he assured himself silently as he watched his wife stalk off tearfully. And remembering Alice, he actually believed it this time.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
"Saturday Climbing" Journal (#2)
While my parent-teenager issue is still about stuff like curfew, music being too loud, and why I have to eat a vegetable AND salad with dinner, it is a bit more complicated then just that. I have a step-dad.
When I was six years old, my mom married Donald McLaren. In the months between when they met and when they got married, he went out of his way to buy my sister and I gifts, ice cream, and take my mom, my sister and myself on excursions such as camping up north. Soon after they got married I started to notice that a lot of things were changing in my life. On the up side, we were putting a large addition on our house, but on the other hand many new rules were put in place. As a young adult I realize that my opinion on rules is highly biased, but life in my house became more difficult.
Most self-help sources and professionals will tell you that life with a step-parent gets easier with time, as you get to know them and get used to them. It has been eleven years and this is not true in my family. The gifts, treats and family field trips came to a halt about a year after they were married. And while I know he has good intentions, I try to stay out of Don's way as much as possible. As do most of my friends when they are here, which is rarely.
The story "Saturday Climbing" can be related to my problems at home by how Barry, as a father, is trying to deal with his negative relationship with his daughter. More specifically the fact that he tries to find an activity that they can do together to get to know each other again. Don has tried to do this, he was the one who insisted to teach me how to drive. This was a great idea, in theory. I say this because I found that I just ended up getting more and more frustrated every time I was driving with him because of his lack of patience and short temper. I started just putting off our driving sessions as long as possible or sneaking in lessons with my mom.
I know that I am part of the problem. I understand that I can be hard to deal with and I mirror emotions when they are aimed towards me. For example when someone is being passive aggressive, I tend to throw it right back even though that is not the most mature thing to do. I need to put more effort into forming a relationship with this stand-in parent and possibly stop hiding in my bedroom every day after 5:43 pm.
Some people will understand my problem perfectly. Some people will think that I am being selfish and not respective of Don. But no one can really understand my situation unless they are me.
When I was six years old, my mom married Donald McLaren. In the months between when they met and when they got married, he went out of his way to buy my sister and I gifts, ice cream, and take my mom, my sister and myself on excursions such as camping up north. Soon after they got married I started to notice that a lot of things were changing in my life. On the up side, we were putting a large addition on our house, but on the other hand many new rules were put in place. As a young adult I realize that my opinion on rules is highly biased, but life in my house became more difficult.
Most self-help sources and professionals will tell you that life with a step-parent gets easier with time, as you get to know them and get used to them. It has been eleven years and this is not true in my family. The gifts, treats and family field trips came to a halt about a year after they were married. And while I know he has good intentions, I try to stay out of Don's way as much as possible. As do most of my friends when they are here, which is rarely.
The story "Saturday Climbing" can be related to my problems at home by how Barry, as a father, is trying to deal with his negative relationship with his daughter. More specifically the fact that he tries to find an activity that they can do together to get to know each other again. Don has tried to do this, he was the one who insisted to teach me how to drive. This was a great idea, in theory. I say this because I found that I just ended up getting more and more frustrated every time I was driving with him because of his lack of patience and short temper. I started just putting off our driving sessions as long as possible or sneaking in lessons with my mom.
I know that I am part of the problem. I understand that I can be hard to deal with and I mirror emotions when they are aimed towards me. For example when someone is being passive aggressive, I tend to throw it right back even though that is not the most mature thing to do. I need to put more effort into forming a relationship with this stand-in parent and possibly stop hiding in my bedroom every day after 5:43 pm.
Some people will understand my problem perfectly. Some people will think that I am being selfish and not respective of Don. But no one can really understand my situation unless they are me.
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