Washed Ashore: Making Art from Ocean Plastic

Washed Ashore: Making Art from Ocean Plastic — page 2 — The ocean is home to all kinds of wonderful creatures Slimy sea slugs Prickly puffer fish Glittery grunions Flashlight fish that glow in the dark Octopuses that change color if they get scared or grumpy Dolphins that play tag Whales that sing so loud they’ll rattle your bones The ocean is important to all kinds of people too Some ride its waves Others explore its depths Some hunt for food Others sail on it around the world While some of us have never even been to the ocean all of us have left something behind in its waters Do you know what we’ve left Our trash Every ocean in the world has trash in it Even a clown fish will tell you that living in a dirty ocean isn’t funny but the worst part is our trash hurts animals They get tangled up in the trash and can’t swim or they eat the trash because they think it’s food Eating trash can hurt or kill them Angela Haseltine Pozzi noticed trash was washing up on the beach near her house and no one was picking it up Angela had a big idea But she knew she would need help so she asked people from her town in Bandon Oregon to join her Together they picked up trash from nearby beaches and used it to make giant sculptures of marine animals at risk because of plastic pollution The sculptures were so big and beautiful that many people came to see them In 2010 Angela and her friends started an organization called Washed Ashore Their animal sculptures have traveled all over the United States and Canada to visit schools zoos aquariums and museums They have taught many people about the problem of trash in our ocean Children have responded by talking to their local city councils resulting in new laws banning Styrofoam plastic utensils and plastic bags from local stores Students have started recycling programs at their schools Many people have pledged to never use a plastic bag or disposable water bottle again Angela says Everybody can make a difference Every action counts In this book you will find fourteen Washed Ashore sculptures made of ocean plastic You’ll learn fascinating facts about each marine animal as well as tips for how you can reduce plastic pollution And challenge yourself to find more than eighty different household objects hidden in the sculptures Let’s get started

Washed Ashore: Making Art from Ocean Plastic — page 3 — PRISCILLA THE PARRORTFISH Most parrotfish live in coral reefs which look like colorful gardens but are actually made from tiny animals called polyps Parrotfish clean the coral reefs by eating the algae that grow on them The parrotfish rip off chunks of dead coral and grind them up to feed on the algae polyps and bacteria inside The dead coral leaves their bodies as sand In one year a parrotfish can produce enough sand to fill a sandbox This sand helps create our beaches But parrotfish are losing their homes and food One reason is that plastic trash rubs against the coral and creates open wounds Plastic also attracts chemicals antibiotics and even viruses They can infect the coral and it becomes sick and dies Can you find a bottle castle wolf

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