4Ocean are a group of incredibly conscientious and hard-working people battling to clean up plastic waste from coasts, seas and oceans. This action is of the utmost importance but they need help to make a difference.
With a donation of 20 dollars you can support 4Ocean's removal of plastic from the Ocean with their fleet of ships and in return you can get a very nice bracelet to help advertise their cause to your family and friends.
The Oceans of the Earth are in severe trouble and undergoing the first mass extinction in over 55 million years due to climate change and severe contamination caused by human activity. The effect of plastic in the ocean has been disastrous for life at every level of the ocean ecosystem but in particular for complex endangered species such as whales and sea turtles.
Plastic bags in particular look very similar to squid and jellyfish, which sea turtles prey upon. As a result, many of the worlds sea turtles have ingested some form of large plastic which can be fatal to their digestive system. Without active cleanup of large plastic refuse, dumped carelessly into the oceans and seas many of the already threatened species of turtles can be pushed over the brink to certain extinction.
Turtles in general are fascinating creatures. In terms of vertebrate systematics and paleontology they are some of the most mysteries animals to classify and there is still a lot about their evolution and position in the tree of life, relative to other reptiles, that we do not know about.
The scope of habitats turtles occupy on Earth is very broad and sea turtles are unique on the present day Earth in being the only large reptile that has maintained a permanent presence in the ocean. Sea Turtles are descended from the first land turtles that ventured into the sea during the Cretaceous 230 Million Years ago. As survivors since then, they are in a very real sense analogues to prehistoric oceanic reptiles in general that dominated the oceans during the so-called "age of reptiles" that ended 65 million years ago.
We will have lost a great treasure if sea turtles went extinct on our watch, something very precious lost from this great Earth forever along with the thought that it could have been prevented.
Please support 4Ocean's brave endevours if you can this June and help make a difference.
