Dear  future President,

Everyday in the summer, my friends and I ride our bikes to the Jersey Shore beach. Most of the time, the Jersey Shore’s beaches are very clean but some days we will be swimming and a dirty plastic bag will get stuck around someone’s leg. This is because people are polluting our oceans and beaches. We need to do more to keep our oceans and beaches clean.

We need to do more to keep our oceans and beaches clean because oil spills are harming marine life, fur-bearing animals, and birds. According to greenliving.lovetoknow.com the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says, “If fur-bearing mammals or birds get oil on their fur or feathers, they may not fly or move properly, maintain body temperature, or feed. As marine mammals try to clean themselves, they may ingest oil which can poison them.” It is clear that oil is really harming these animals and if we don’t do something to stop it, they could become endangered. The article also states “oil may impact coral reefs in a negative way.” Coral reefs are beautiful but, they are also habitats to many types of marine life. If some of the smaller marine life don’t have a habitat, more of the larger marine life will eat them and the smaller marine life will have a bigger chance of becoming endangered.

We need to do more to keep our oceans and beaches clean because it is harming our sea animals and birds. Greenliving.lovetoknow.com states “Ocean mammals get entangled in old nets and drown because they cannot get to the surface for air. Birds, turtles, and fish ingest a variety of plastic items and their digestive systems become clogged.” All of this is because people are polluting our oceans and beaches. Most people are polluting our beaches and oceans because they are not aware of the effect it has on the marine life. We need to make people more aware of this topic.

We need to do more to keep our oceans and beaches clean because our oceans supports people’s jobs and give us food to eat. According to fao.org, “Just over 100 million tonnes of fish are eaten worldwide each year, providing two and a half billion people with at least 20 percent of their average per capita animal protein intake.” If there was no more fish, all the people that eat it would no longer to be able to. People that survive off fish would have to find a different food source. The people that have the job of being a fisherman would no longer to be able to a fisherman because there would be no fish to fish for.

We need to do more to keep our oceans and beaches clean because of tourism. In the summer, the Jersey Shore beaches are packed with tourists. economist.com states “nearly half of tourism spending is at the “shore”.” In the sentence, they are referring the “shore” to the Jersey Shore. People love traveling here because of how beautiful and awesome our community is but tourists wouldn’t want to travel here if we had garbage all over our beaches and oceans. If we don’t stop polluting, our beaches and oceans will become dirty and tourists will no longer want to spend their summers here.

Others may argue that air pollution is more important needs to be fixed first. Yes, air pollution is also an important topic that needs to be taken care of but, our oceans are more important. More animals lives are being put in danger, more jobs are at risk, and our economy is also at stake.

If we don’t stop littering and don’t start cleaning our beaches, more and more marine life with become extinct. More and more injured sea mammals will start washing ashore . We need to do more to keep our oceans and beaches clean now.

-Chase H.