TRIGGER WARNING If you missed it - we found a dead whale on the beach yesterday. Swipe if you want to see, didn't want to put it front and center in case it's a trigger for you. ? I got SO many DM's from you guys expressing concern. (Thank you for caring about our planet!) It's normal for people to find dead washed up whales each year, they don't all survive the migration, but this year is different. This is a Grey Whale and our giant friend is the 9th whale to wash up in the Bay Area since March alone. That's really high! I spent some time researching the Grey Whale situation yesterday and apparently this species is turning up dead on beaches at an alarming rate, along with less reported mother/calf pairs. Basically, they're struggling right now to find enough food sources. My researchers believe this is caused by overfishing in our oceans and also global warming killing off their food sources. ? One of you contacted me about @SeaLegacy, an organization that helps protect our oceans, so I wanted to get that on your radar in case if you were looking to donate somewhere. ⠀
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I expressed concern on my Stories yesterday about how I always feel helpless to tackle problems like this because I'm just one person, I don't work in the government or own a global company, I can't enact actual change on a mass scale. Instead of going in a downward spiral I wanted to share small ways that myself and you can help our oceans. They won't solve this problem, but if we all make small changes, we can surely help. ⠀
1. Reduce your Carbon Footprint ⠀
2. Make Safe, Sustainable Seafood Choices⠀
3. Use Fewer Plastic Products when you can⠀
4. Help Take Care of the Beach by picking up liter if you are visiting⠀
5. Don't Purchase Items That Exploit Marine Life. ⠀
6. Be an Ocean-Friendly Pet Owner (as in, don't buy products containing exploited fish, etc.)⠀
7. Support Organizations Working to Protect the Ocean like SeaLegacy & signing petitions. ⠀
8. Electing officials who support the environment. ⠀
>> Not on the list I found, but also wearing coral reef safe sunscreen when swimming in the oceans! #turningthetide #deadwhale #oceanbeach #sanfrancisco #greywhale