Firth are full of good ideas!

 

This week PU3P visited the Pupil Council at Firth School, which is situated in a fantastic location for marine education. The Pupil Council found out about some of the effects that marine litter has on animals that live in the ocean.

The we had a look at the collection of bruck which has been gathered on Orkney shores. The plastic film, wrap and carrier bags as well as single use bottles have been removed, leaving a surprising mix of items. Some of these may be local, some have been in the ocean for a long time and some have travelled all the way from Canada, probably swirling around in the North Atlantic gyre for a while before being flung out towards us.

 Everyone was aware of the masses of unecessary plastic packaging that there is for food in supermarkets and toy packaging, but some of the litter was surprising. Why were there inhalers and shot gun cartridges floating around in the sea? No wonder fulmars are called flying dustbins!

 

Lots of good questions meant that by the end of the session the Pupil Council had plenty of ideas about how to take action. They are ready to share what they have learned throughout the school and beyond, and spread the message, Pick Up Three for the Sea!

PU3P visits North Walls School, Hoy.

 

The PU3P collection of bruck has been out at North Walls School in Hoy this week and was closely examined by the children. They found the remains of balloons, toothbrushes, paintbrushes, dolls, forks and spoons as well as pieces of plastic that had floated across the North Atlantic from Canada. There may even have been some items from further away - we may never know where some of these things originated - but we do know that they end up here in the seas around Orkney and deposited, briefly, on our shores.

 

After watching the videos produced by The 5 Gyres Institute it was clear that the problem of plastics in the oceans is a worldwide one. With some expertise already in ocean currents, members of Class 2 understood just how far trash in the ocean can travel.

 

 They concluded that there are things we can do to help animals in the oceans and stop things getting worse. We can try to reduce the amount of plastic we buy and use, and we can use cotton or jute bags when we go shopping and keep re-using them.

 

How do you clean the ocean? You clean the shore!

 

The most popular video of the day was the one that reminded us of how amazing the ocean is.