Plastic has become a vital part of human life. It is very commonly used by nearly every human on the planet and we can feel the effects in all corners of the planet. As many people know, plastic does not decompose very easily. It takes roughly 500 years for a piece of plastic to decompose. In these 500 years, much of this plastic finds itself in the ocean. When these plastics make their way into the ocean, it puts marine wildlife in lots of danger. These plastics are consumed much of the time and can cause health problems to all animals. It is believed that 700 species could go extinct because of plastic in the ocean.

Plastic is so dangerous in the ocean because of the way it decomposes. Adding onto the long decomposition time of plastic, the threat of pieces multiplying makes it even more dangerous. When plastic breaks down in the ocean, it only separates itself into multiple smaller pieces and spreads itself out. These are called micro plastics. If enough of these micro plastics are added into the ocean, they are not easy to take out and also still do the same amount of damage as any plastic. It can harm important internal organs in many marine animals. An example of the severity of this issue is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This area where plastic objects gather in the Pacific Ocean is about the size of Texas and continues to grow with time. Our solution of becoming plastic free must come quicker. With each day, the threat of marine species becoming extinct grows more and more due to plastic pollution.

Whaling is a very old and ancient tradition in mainly European countries. Since the year of 1987, whaling has been banned. Despite this ban on whaling, many countries still hunt and kill hundreds of whales a year in many different oceans. They claim that these hunts are for scientific purposes while they harvest the meat of the whale for thousands of dollars of profit. An example of this is the Japanese hunting Minke Whales in the Antarctic Ocean. Groups of large boats tail these whales and when the time is right, the boats will shoot large harpoons into the whales. The whales are then dissected for meat onboard the ship.

Some people are fighting back against whaling. The Sea Shepherds, a wildlife conservation group, focuses on saving marine animals from the threats of poaching. In 2008, the Sea Shepherds set out on a mission to stop the Japanese from poaching whales. Through all odds, they were able to stop these poachers using non violent actions. A TV series was made out of this journey called Whale Wars. In the past century, the amount of whales in our oceans have become very scarce. If we show anymore tolerance to this “legal poaching” we will soon have the sight of a magnificent whale jumping out of the water a very rare occasion.

In the past decade, we have seen a direct impact of humans on the population of wild rhinos. Rhinos are magnificent animals living mainly in the plains of Africa.  Rhino horns are believed to hold health benefits treating many sicknesses. This however, is not necessarily the case. Rhino horns are made of the same material as human hair and fingernails. Despite this realization by scientists, poachers continue to hunt rhinos for their horns. When these rhinos are hunted, they are either killed by guns or are tranquillized and put to sleep. While alive, their horns are then detached from their bodies by saws or other sharp devices. They are then often left alive to die slowly.

This terrible act of cruelty needs to stop. Today, there are approximately only 20,000 rhinos left in the wild. With nearly 1,000 rhinos being killed for their horns every year, we could see the species become extinct very soon. Their horns have created a market producing around 17 billion dollars per year. This is all for the same material as our fingernails. A rhino’s horn has no medical value but these poachers and buyers refuse to accept this fact. In order to protect these rhinos, there are many various groups which track down poachers but lack the funding to make a huge impact on the poaching community. We can help these groups by donating money in order to give rhinos a better future protected from poachers.

If you would like to donate here is a website: https://www.rhinoconservationbotswana.com/make-a-donation

To encounter many different animals and explore the natural wildlife all around the globe has always been something I have wanted to do. The beauty of natural wildlife  is something very special and I personally value it amongst the best experiences. From the bond between dog and human to the poaching of elephants, we always see humans and animals hold a certain relationship. These relationships determine much of what the future of our planet holds. I have seen many documentaries about how humans can bond with animals and also how we can destroy an entire species. This generally interests me because animals are very fascinating in my eyes and are something that we should not take advantage of.

Over the course of this semester, I hope to educate people about the negative impacts of humans on natural wildlife and also what we can aspire to be like in order to save the ecosystems around us. Many species have become endangered and extinct due to the greed of certain people. I believe by making more people aware of this dire situation, we can all be more conscious of what we do in our everyday life. An example of this is simply throwing your trash away or recycling. With one person, it is very hard to change the ways of society but together, we can make an impact that will determine the future of our planet.

Creative nonfiction is making realistic but also made up stories. A work of creative nonfiction would not include any unrealistic or imaginary ideas or concepts out of the boundaries of reality. I think an example of creative non fiction would maybe be like writing about a dream day at the beach. Also, since I just watched it, Crazy Rich Asians would be a great example of a creative nonfiction film. I have heard many things about the CNF course. I have heard that there is a lot of writing and essays. I have also heard that there is lots of freedom in the writing unlike other English classes. I feel as if I will like this class because I would rather write about what I can imagine in my mind than write an essay about a book.

Why did I choose this class?

I chose this class because I heard it would help me with my college essays. I also love making up my own stories and not analyzing books. For me, it was either creative writing or creative nonfiction but I thought that creative nonfiction would be much more useful as I will be able to utilize creative nonfiction writing more in the real world. I think I’ll remain interested throughout the semester and truly enjoy writing as I find my own style. I took literature of the ocean last semester and by the end of the first quarter, I had lost motivation due to the fact that the class was basically all analysis.