This is one of the most shocking pictures we have ever seen of plastic entanglement with marine animals and is making us work even harder to get a plastic bag ban started in Santa Cruz. Click here to sign our petition for a plastic bag ban.
Just last month there was an article about 7 beached sperm whales in Italy who were killed by ingesting plastic. Click here for the full story.
Here at Save Our Shores we are working on the draft for the Santa Cruz city plastic bag ban, but it needs to go further than that. As a coastal state, we need a state-wide ban on plastic bags and it all starts with you! So tell your law makers to support a plastic bag ban and always bring your own bag to the store, plastic needs a time out.
The picture of the otter mom trying to free her pup from the plastic bag should be in every newspaper, billboards, etc. People need to be aware of our affect on wildlife, it may make a few think and just maybe a few to act.
ReplyDeleteI have seen otters playing with plastic several times, this represents some of the worst, getting caught in the plastic bag.
ReplyDeleteFortuntely it had a happy ending. But we need to remember this can be very dangerous
Thank you for posting and thanks to the photographer
Terry McCormac for taking it.
I am regularly out in Elkhorn Slough leading photo tours and this incredibly alarming to see. Amazing impact as a photo, but I do hope there was a happy ending to this. So sad. I'll pass on word for the petition.
ReplyDeletePlease consider doing this: When I walk to the supermarket or farmers' market or whatever for minor shopping, I have a plain old backpack for that purpose. Easier than either paper or plastic. For big honkin' shopping expeditions, I keep one of those Rubbermaid storage bins in my vehicle. It fits in the shopping cart when I'm at the supermarket!
ReplyDeleteThis breaks my heart. It's time to ban plastic bags nationwide. It's really not difficult to bring your own bags. If you have a hard time remembering, get a ChicoBag (www.chicobag.com) - they stuff into an attached pouch and have a carabiner making them hard to forget. It's time for us to stop polluting the beautiful oceans and destroying marine habitats.
ReplyDeleteWe have got to quit treating our oceans as dumping grounds. Too many marine creatures are dying due to our careless use of their home. Chemicals, plastics, fishing gear and other junk that is dumped at sea doesn't disappear when it goes below the waters surface.
ReplyDeleteWhat a dreadful, distressing photograph...I agree it should be used for advertising purposes, ban the bag.
ReplyDeleteWe talk about plastic bags and otters but where are the people demanding enforcement of litter laws?
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't the bag it was a person. Even if we get rid of plastic bags animals wont be safe from people that throw their junk in the environment...
Time to stop plastic bags! Shop eco-friendly, go to http://www.ProjectGreenBag.com
ReplyDeletethey do tend to blow out of trash trucks, so it's not even always a littering thing!
ReplyDeletewas a very good article. I would like more information
ReplyDeleteOh my, you can't help but worry about the balance of marine ecology in the face of this problem. That's why we all must practice recycling now. An imbalance in the ecological system can bode harmful for both man and animals.
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