Intro:
Throughout my life, I never realized the true extent to which plastic devastates our environment. I obviously knew struggles existed that aren't natural, but after further research I've come to the realization of the specific ways in which plastic truly shatters ecosystems. The following are only few ways in which certain animals are hurt by plastic.
To play the game scroll to the end of this website
Sea turtles, particularly leatherback, primarily feed on jellyfish for survival. Unfortunately, plastic bags resemble jellyfish immensely in both movement and appearance. To sea turtles, plastic bags and jellyfish are almost indistinguishable and when these turtles ultimately consume these plastics, it can either cause internal blockage or a false sense of fullness which ultimately leads to death by starvation.
Birds are another victim of plastic consumption. They often mistake shiny plastics for small fish or insects. These plastics often don't pass through the digestive tract easily and accumulate in the stomach, thus causing a fullness feeling despite the bird not actually having any food within them. They eventually die from starvation.
Krill, unlike the past two victims don't necessarily suffer a great deal from plastic consumption but rather aid in the toxification of its surrounding waters. Microplastics, a very small form of plastic, are inevitably consumed by almost every possible organism alive, and are especially prevalent on the ocean's surface. Billions upon billions of microplastics exist in our oceans today. These plastics closely resemble phytoplankton, one of the main food sources for krill. Krill simply cannot tell the difference between the two but fortunately the microplastics pass through without causing major harm to the krill, however, after passing through, these plastics become nanoplastics, a kind of plastic that is extremely difficult to notice. Fish and other sea creatures eat these plastics subconsciously and while they aren't as harmful as bigger plastics they are still toxic.
The following is a game I've created to better showcase the perspectives of these three animals as they encounter plastic.
NOTE while this game was made to closely resemble each perspective there are still some noticeable inaccuracies. For example, in the "Krill" perspective, once you eat two microplastics, the krill dies, however this is NOT the case in reality as stated before microplastics tend to go right through the krill's digestive system but come out as nanoplastics. I suggest to not use this game as a main source of information and rather research these topics using official, published sources.
To access this game on a more convenient screen please click the following link:
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1178864156/
Photo Credits:
https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/pixel-art-rural-landscape-background_49685498.htm
https://as1.ftcdn.net/v2/jpg/00/51/08/48/1000_F_51084873_oOYgc2cJczHrjkjpnQ4P08KmN6jxaKyF.jpg
All information is extracted from this movie regarding ocean pollution:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAXGiXElX7w
Have questions? Contact the creator of this website!
ritumaiti227@gmail.com