Dear Sir,

The world’s oceans are very important and we must make an effort to keep them clean and safe.

If we don’t take care of our oceans, we run the risk of hurting the animals and plants that live in them.

At school, I saw pictures of sick and injured animals in the ocean. One of the pictures was of a turtle trapped by a large plastic bottle ring. The turtle had gotten caught in when it was a baby and, as its body grew, it had formed as if there was a separator in the middle of its body.

Another picture was of a blue whale covered in a large piece of plastic. Divers managed to get the plastic off the whale, but it took a long time because the whale was scared and nervous. The last picture was of a shark, which had plastic stuck on its tail. A group of volunteers had to get it off. As you know, sharks have to keep moving to breathe, so it was very hard to take the plastic off.

Even though the shark wanted to let the swimmers help, it couldn’t stop moving. Finally, they got the plastic off, but it took a long time.

I would ask everyone to help the sea and its animals by trying to keep the sea clean.

NATALIA HAYCOCK TAFUR, 9

Pembroke