How the Tides Have Turned

How the Tides Have Turned

Sophia Hidalgo

September 27, 2022

I have always known that ocean pollution was a problem, as we often hear about it on the news and in documentaries. While these are important, as they teach people exactly why pollution is bad and what damage it does to various environments, seeing it for yourself is quite different. I never realized the extent of ocean pollution until I started seeing it everywhere; backyards, schools, even twenty miles offshore. It makes you wonder how careless some people are, that they can just throw garbage anywhere and not feel guilty about it, which is something I will never be able to understand. Just a couple of days ago, getting off the Palmetto Expressway on Bird Road, the person in the car in front of me just opened their door, threw a small box and paper on the road, and kept going like if nothing happened. I was stunned. I couldn’t even fathom doing that, and I don’t really understand why someone wouldn’t just wait until they got to where they were going to throw something away. It isn’t that hard.

My high school has a bay that overlooks the ocean, and in my marine science class last year, we would often go out on kayaks to identify various marine organisms and do projects. I have found so much garbage out there, like plastic cups, utensils, dolls, shoes, and so much more. One day, there was a group of us cleaning the bay, and we decided to split up. Two of us would go back and forth with buckets from the people to the garbage cans, and the other three would pick up the trash and put it into the buckets. I can’t tell you how many times I had to go back and forth with garbage-filled buckets; I got the biggest workout of my life. Every time I thought we made progress and I went back with empty buckets, my classmates were waiting for me with garbage piled so high that I couldn’t see their faces. We filled five garbage bags, and there was still more when we left. I don’t know whether I felt accomplished from all the trash we picked up, or disappointed that so many students could leave that much garbage there in the first place. Maybe it was because I went to a private school, where I was surrounded by snobby, rich kids who thought that they were entitled to everything, and that someone else would pick up after them. Admittedly, they were right. I was the one picking up after them. I enjoyed doing it, but I shouldn’t have to.

Although we don’t do it often in Miami, sometimes my dad, my uncle, my cousin and I like to go really far offshore to catch Mahi. We would wake up at 6:00, quickly eat breakfast and get the bait, food, and drinks ready, and be on the boat by 6:45-7:00. It takes us a little more than an hour to get to where we can’t see land in any direction. At this point, we start looking for seaweed patches or birds diving, because they are both signs of life under the surface. Not only did we find seaweed patches and birds, but we also found cups and plastic boxes. Whether they floated there from the shore, or someone went twenty miles offshore and dumped them there, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that they were there. So we picked them up and threw them away when we got back, but I spent the rest of my day wondering,

“How did it get that far?”

“How many people saw it, and just ignored it?”

“Why is it so difficult for people to just wait until they find a trash can to throw things away?”

No clue.

What I do know is that people tend not to care about something if that thing doesn’t directly affect them, like pollution. It is too often overlooked because it does more damage to marine life than it does to human life. What people don’t know is that pollution can increase the growth of algal blooms, which are known to be toxic to both fish and humans. That’s why, whenever there is a red tide, the shore is lined with dead fish and it makes our eyes burn and breathing difficult. A couple of years ago, I went swimming during a red tide, and it was fun for about five whole minutes, until my eyes and skin started burning and I couldn’t stop coughing. Even after I washed off and stayed away from the ocean, I couldn’t open my eyes for about an hour from the pain. This is just one of the many ways that pollution can be toxic to humans. Not only do people not seem to care if pollution doesn’t affect them, but they are completely unaware that it actually does affect them. Putting aside the fact that people don’t care as much about marine life as they should, they should be made aware of how ocean pollution affects humans too.

This is not to say that everyone in Miami is a careless polluter. In fact, there is a lot being done to try to reduce the amount of pollution, whether that be large or small scale. There are programs that are working to reduce the use of fertilizer and sewage draining into the oceans, as these are both known causes of algae blooms. They also urge the public to report pollution and host beach clean-ups, where they often give service hours, so as to keep the pollution from going offshore. Various specialty centers also exist for marine animals that have injuries or illnesses caused by pollution. Evidently, some people are really trying to keep Miami a beautiful and safe place for citizens and tourists, as well as marine animals and plants; but we need to try a little harder.