When I’m older, what will the oceans look like?
That’s a question I’ve been thinking about recently, after working with Greenpeace to create a new short animation produced for them by Aardman, the award winning studio that created Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run.
The heart-breaking animation depicts a family of turtles trying to find their way home through an ocean in crisis.
I’m 16 years old and I’ve already heard and read so many horror stories about what our planet will look and be like if we don’t curb our destructive activities. It feels that as the world has developed, we’ve all wanted more, greed has infected us and is now bringing about mass destruction.
But this isn’t about passing blame, there’s no time left to waste time on that.
This is about recognising what we’ve done, the consequences of our actions and now focusing on how we can all, individually and collectively, make positive and lasting change to our behaviour.
We have to accept that now it seems like it’s a question of when, not if. When will our forests disappear? How many years until Arctic summers are ice free?
These changes may be much more obvious than the changes happening beneath the waves, far from human eyes, but are no less severe or terrifying.
The stark fact is, our oceans are also in crisis. Habitats are being destroyed, the water is warming up and becoming more acidic – killing off the beautiful coral, bleaching it from rainbow-coloured to white.
We are fishing all of the fish out of the sea: industrial fishing is pushing many species to breaking point, which has an impact on all species in the ocean food chain.
Biodiversity in the oceans, like on land, is being lost at a disturbing rate. The crisis in the oceans is starting to spiral out of control and we need urgent action from our governments to protect what we still have, before it’s too late.
While I’m not old enough to vote, I wanted to use my voice in whatever way I could.
I’m grateful to have the platform I have, so the opportunity to work with Greenpeace and Aardman was a real blessing and a way for me to speak out and address the matters that are closest to my heart.
I’m hoping that Turtle Journey, where I voice the daughter turtle, helps make people realise just how much pressure the oceans are under, and why we need to protect them.
It’s my generation – and the generations that come after, not to mention all the animals – who will be deprived of a healthy planet if our governments don’t act now.
They have a question to ask themselves – do they want us to remember them as world leaders who knew exactly what needed to be done, but didn’t act?
Or as leaders who did the right thing – even though it was the hard option – and left behind a legacy of healthy, protected oceans that provide a safe home to all marine creatures?
I want every future generation to have the chance to experience healthy, thriving oceans that are full of life.
But as I’ve learned more about the crisis facing our seas, it has become clear that if we really want to save them for future generations, then we need to do more.
When the United Nations meets in April, they have a chance to agree a new Global Ocean Treaty which could protect the oceans – and make tragedies like what happens in Turtle Journey a thing of the past.
A strong treaty would enable us to put vast chunks of the ocean off limits to all human exploitation in a global network of Fully Protected Marine Areas, a weak one will maintain the broken status quo.
The future of the oceans is now in the UN’s hands – and we need to do everything possible to make sure they do the right thing.
By sharing our oceans story, everyone can play a part in protecting it. Let’s make sure those in charge get the message: we need ocean protection now!
You can watch Turtle Journey, the new film from Greenpeace and Aardman, here
MORE: Coral reefs ‘adapting to warmer ocean temperatures’ as climate change worsens
MORE: The world’s oceans are now hotter than at any point in human history
MORE: UN warns climate change ‘will displace millions’ unless we act now
