In my vocation to the beach, I saw it—a little grey squid, lying in the wet sand, making bubbles and creating dark ink near its body. It is as tiny as an infant’s palm. When I softly picked it up, I felt the smoothness of its surface, which is just like some liquid.
This was something from the sea—from the large, broad, area of water. The more I learnt, the more I liked it. Why? Because just like how it looks, the ocean is full of mysteries. We never get to explore every corner of it, yet still be moved by small pieces it shows us.
And the plastic we produced has entered the ocean and gone further than us. I was first frightened then found it thought-provoking when I read about the Great Garbage Patch and the snowing microplastics.
“As long as there has been marine life, there has been marine snow — a ceaseless drizzle of death and waste sinking from the surface into the depths of the sea.
“Scientists are still exploring exactly how this plastic snow is sinking, but they do know for sure, Dr. Porter said, that ‘everything eventually sinks in the ocean.’”
What touched me most is the natural rule that takes place itself, slowly, mysteriously, and unavoidably. Things considered to be timeless in our lives are nothing in front of it. At the same time, I am thoughtful about the role we will play in the history of future earth. We are still too insignificant to have an impact on earth, while our production has left its trace in eco-system. I was surprised at how the microplastics are combined into nature.
Suddenly an idea occurred to me: as the natural world has the ability of slightly adjusting itself, is it necessary to clear plastic out of it? Meanwhile, on a larger scale, even plastic will completely disappear in 400 years’ time. Then do we have to deal with the pollution?
These thoughts made me uncomfortable. But as I went on, I found an answer for myself: though the plastics might not cause deadly harm to the ocean, for it can make changes, I don’t think it is a positive change. Just like when grafting an extra arm to a healthy person, the cut surface may recover and grow together, but by then the person has turned into something non-person.
I lost myself in concern.