TANNER S. New Jersey

Ocean Pollution

Ocean Pollution is getting out of hand. This is a problem we need to fix.

10/25/2016

Dear Mr. President,

Everyone loves the ocean, but sometimes we are not showing that. What I mean is, many people continue to pollute the ocean and make it even more toxic. I noticed this when some of my local beaches closed in the middle of the summer because the bacteria levels were too high. This is when I asked myself, “How can this be good for our environment?” It really can’t in any way, shape, or form. There are many ways we can stop ocean pollution, and we need to do that so we don’t lose our wildlife below the sea, and forever destroy our food chains.

One time, I was surfing at an entirely new beach, and didn’t know what to expect. I walked up the beach, and under some man made palm fronds. I eventually got down the beach and suited up. I jumped past the shorebreak and paddled out. I realized there was a rip current of garbage and litter. I was so angered by this occurrence, that I had paddled away. The icing on that cake was seeing a good little wave break right over the line of trash. The pollution was just getting sucked out to sea, only to kill a bunch of fish. This is when I realized that I wanted to curb ocean pollution for good.

Ocean pollution is a serious deal. It affects not only human population and our environment, but our economy as well. Stated by http://www.cntraveler.com/, “The Bering Sea Crab Fisherman’s Tour in Ketchikan, Alaska is a must visit for seafood lovers.” We won’t have this anymore if these crabs and the rest of the fish go extinct. According to http://www.jobmonkey.com/alaska/ , College students have been traveling to Alaska for ages to get summer jobs in crab fishing. There is also year round jobs, and jobs in the spring, summer, and fall. There are many fishing jobs right now, whether they are on a boat in the middle of the atlantic ocean, or just on a dock in Florida. Our economy could plunge into deep trouble if fish go extinct, resulting in job loss. http://alaskafishjobs.com/jobs/ Also points out that there are year round fishing jobs in Alaska. This very website confirms, you can earn $50,000 from salmon fishing for just 3 months. Alaska fishing is popular because many proclaim it as the world’s best seafood. Because of humans, the ocean is following a path of deterioration. The surfrider foundation is an organization that prevents ocean pollution and thinks oil drilling is not the answer. If you, as the president could endorse them only good things would come out of it. It would pay off for our country when our oceans are cleaner, less fish are dying, and less people are getting ocean borne illnesses.

If our ocean gets too polluted, a chain of bad things will happen to our environment, starting with decreasing marine life populations. When this happens, the demise of human population will follow. You may think that stopping ocean pollution can wait, and that we should have to spend our money on things like war, and the national debt, but we live off of the ocean and its population. If we nip this in the bud, we can end fish endangerment before it gets to fish extinction.

If we pay more attention to ocean pollution, our marine life will thrive. Think of all of the fish in their exuberant states and clean waters. I can’t stress enough that if we don’t take care of our oceans it will make us all sick sooner or later. In close, ending ocean pollution will bring fabulous benefits, whether they are instantaneous or in the long run.

A fellow American,

Tanner

Brielle Elementary

Eighth Grade Citizens

The students in the eighth grade who wished to post their letters are featured here. Students worked for several weeks in both Social Studies and Language Arts classes, crafting their arguments. They participated in Penpal Schools Decision 2016 as well as Media Literacy Week.

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