The long wait is over: rescue patrols have commenced this morning, and OCN rescued our first seal for the near year. We should count it as a double rescue: she is a mother with a newborn pup. She was injured from a piece of rope around her neck, and she had limited time left. Her baby would not have survived if she had succumbed to her injuries. Tomorrow we will go out again. We have identified a few vulnerable individuals that need urgent care. The big seal bulls are gone again, have done their job, and are back at sea for the next eight months. The new pups are taking their first swimming lessons and will no longer drown if they run into the water during a rescue stampede.
2022 was our biggest rescue year so far, with 687 successful seal rescues. It's a 13.5% increase from the year before. We know that our rescue technique has improved a lot, and we might have been able to do rescues we would not have attempted or even seen the year before. We still believe that increased ocean rubbish and plastic pollution are to be blamed. Every year, single-use plastic enters the world's oceans. Once in the water, almost nothing gets removed. Even if we could stop plastic consumption from one day to the next, we would have to deal with the rubbish that is already in the water for the next decades and centuries.
Nobody can fix plastic pollution on their own. It has to be a collective effort; everybody can and has to make a difference. Millions of minor actions lead to significant change. Here are a few suggestions:
- Use only plastics that can be recycled if there are no non-plastic alternatives.
- Buy sustainably sourced clothing and repair, not replace.
- Dispose of your rubbish correctly.
- Cut loops, and recycle wherever possible.
- Carry your own water bottle and refill it instead of using single-use plastic bottles.
- Introduce vegan or vegetarian days to your meal plan.
- Buy local and seasonal to reduce the carbon footprint of your food.
- Skip the fish until the fishing industry changes its irresponsible practices.
There are so many more things that can be done to help the planet. Let's do our very best in 2023 to be better versions of ourselves.
