Hi!
I am doing the Great North Run for a brilliant organisation, the Marine Conservation Society. 5 reasons why you should sponsor me running this year for the Marine Conservation Society….
1. The sea is amazing. Our oceans support an estimated 10 million species or more, diverse, mysterious, and fascinating. Fish, dolphins, crabs, seals (arfarf), turtles, whales, sharks, whalesharks, seabirds, coral, deep sea weird fish, jelly fish, sea weed, plankton and more! Life in UK seas is as colourful and magnificent as that found anywhere else in the world’s oceans.
2. Even if you don’t agree that the sea is amazing and aren’t particularly bothered by what’s in it, if you want to carry on eating fish, we need to protect our seas and change the way we fish. Fishing has caused massive damage to many fish species but also other species from destructive fishing methods. For example long line fishing has made the albatross bird almost extinct, as they get caught in the lines which stretch for miles from the back on fishing boats. Not on at all.
3. Millions of humans’ livelihoods worldwide depend on the sea through food, transport, tourism, aesthetics. If we ruin it how can we justify creating more poverty and suffering?
4. Anyone like going to the beach? We are lucky to have some amazing beaches in the UK and I’m sure you enjoy visiting them here and elsewhere world wide. But it can be spoilt by the rubbish we throw in the sea. Imagine in 20 years time, if we do not change the way we treat the ocean, beaches covered in plastic and debris, and contaminated seas we cannot swim in. Not nice; let’s do something to stop it.
5. In 2008 a ‘plastic soup’ of discarded bags, bottle caps, and tiny bits of plastic broken up by the waves in the middle of thePacific Oceanwas brought to light. The ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’ is thought to be about twice the size of Texas and is held in place by swirling undercurrents. The effect of the plastic on marine ecosystems is very negative and when the patch comes close to land like it has in Hawaii, you can imagine the effects are not pleasant. I don’t know about you, but knowing we have caused such a monstrosity makes me feel pretty sad……
Our oceans face many threats, from fishing to pollution which need to be addressed if our seas are to thrive in the future. It seems absurd we have been given something so magnificent and have treated it the way we have. It is all of our responsibility to work towards conservation of our seas.
But fret not, because WE CAN do something about it. There are already lots of organisations working towards protecting our oceans, including the Marine Conservation Society (MCS). I believe the work they do is vital to saving our seas, and that it why I am doing the 13 mile Great North Run to raise money for them this year. The MCS do their work through campaigning for better conservation policies and reduction of pollution, fishery programs, wildlife protection, coastal zone management, climate change awareness, general education about marine conservation and more. For more info go to http://www.mcsuk.org/.
I hope the reasons above and others you may find on the MCS website encourage you to believe that sponsoring me would be such a brilliant thing to do!!!!! Here’s one more incentive- if I get to my target, I promise to run dressed as some sort of marine creature. Any suggestions welcome.
THANK YOU
Lizzie J
