We are the ones we have been waiting for. -- June Jordan

 June 8 is World Oceans Day!  Read more about our imperiled oceans here: http://worldoceansday.org/



Plastics are a huge part of water pollution, so here are a few quick facts to get you thinking:

In November 2008, in Australia, a 11 1/2 foot (3.5 meter) long crocodile, which had been tagged as part of a government wildlife tracking program, was found dead.  It had consumed 25 plastic shopping and garbage bags.  This is a common fate for many wild animals.

The desert and its inhabitants have also suffered from plastic pollution.  Animals are eating the plastic left behind by visitors and tourists. They then choke on it or starve to death because the plastic blocks their intestines.  Just like seabirds in the ocean, camels, sheep, goats and cattle, as well as the protected Arabian oryx, sand gazelles and other wildlife, are dying after ingesting plastic.  From ocean to desert, there is no escape from plastic pollution.

 90% of litter floating in the oceans is plastic. 70% of this will eventually sink.

Plastics that might biodegrade over time on land will not do so in sea water, as the micro-organisms that degrade plastics cannot survive in the ocean.

--from the book "Plastic Pollution" by Geof Knight

Yes, this seabird is so full of plastic it's hard to belief but sadly many water animals, as well as land animals, ingest plastic thinking its food and die with this stuff stuck in their guts.  You can see more Midway seabirds here.

Okay, enough depressing news, I'm going to temper these sad statistics and facts with some mermaid fun.  Just remember, you are powerful and you can create change, one small step at a time.



Darwin may have been quite correct in his theory that man descended from the apes of the forest, but surely woman rose from the frothy sea, as resplendent as Aphrodite on her scalloped chariot. 

-- Margot Datz, A Survival Guide for Landlocked Mermaids

I am a siren, and for my adoration of

mankind, have been caught in fishing nets

one time too many. And in those fishing

nets I have learned too many unfavorable

things about human intentions and the

lack of trust and goodwill; I'm not going

to allow myself to be caught, anymore.

Sirens do well at singing the sirens' song

and dragging vile people to their deaths,

and for good reason!"

-- C. Joybell C.

The girl cocked her head the other way. I caught a glimpse of pink gills under her chin. "My sisters told me stories of humans. They said they sometimes sing to them to lure them underwater." She grinned, showing off her sharp needle-teeth. "I've been practicing. Want to hear?" -- Julie Kagawa, The Iron King

This incredible sculpture is by artist Forest Rogers.