A new campaign using graphic fake images of marine animals choking to death with carrier bags tightly wrapped around their heads has been questioned by British scientists.
Sea Shepherd, a marine wildlife NGO, launched the graphic images of a turtle and a seal apparently suffocating for their new campaign to raise awareness of plastic pollution of the world’s oceans.
Questions have since been raised on social media whether the campaign may have the opposite effect, and could de-sensitise the public by using fake images rather than real suffering of marine life.
Shocking images of tortured marine animals apparently suffocating because carrier bags are tightly wound around their heads lay bear the toll of plastic pollution. Sea Shepherd, a marine wildlife NGO, has launched the graphic images of a turtle and a seal struggling to breathe
Brendan Godley Professor of Conservation Science at the University of Exeter tweeted: ‘Interested to know whether people agree with the poetic license used.’
Timur Jack-Kadıoğlu, PhD student and researcher at the same university, replied: ‘Will people become desensitized to plastic waste imagery as sometimes happens with humanitarian aid shock campaigns?
‘Entanglement is happening, but is it justifiable to anthropomorphise with imagery of human torture when arguably it’s not intentionally inflicted on marine life with the purpose of causing pain..’
He added that he was ‘skeptical about longterm desensitizing of continuous use of shocking imagery.’
The 3D ads, which will appear on posters and across social media, bear the caption, ‘The plastic you use once tortures the oceans forever’.
They serve as a poignant and disturbing reminder that creatures all over the world are dying from materials that humans make.
The images used are not real and were designed by the organisation to provoke a response but a spokesperson noted that their ships have come across animals in this type of distress many times in the past.
The 3D ads, which will appear on posters and on social media, bear the caption, ‘The plastic you use once tortures the oceans forever.’ They serve as a poignant and frightening reminder that worldwide creatures are dying from material that humans have made
Plastics from items used in our daily lives and generally discarded without any special care. Sea Shepherd, in partnership with Tribal Worldwide São Paulo, wanted to show how a thoughtless action in our life can cause huge damage to nature without us even realising it
Raw displays like these have become more and more commonplace showing images of dead birds with their stomachs bursting with refuse, seals’ necks snared in frisbees and turtles and fish caught in fishing net, surfacing in reports.
Around 700 species of marine animals have been reported – so far – to have consumed or become entangled in plastic.
Plastics from items used in our daily lives and generally discarded without any special care.
‘Unfortunately, a small and thoughtless action in our daily life can cause huge damage to nature without us even realising it, said Guiga Giacomo, from Tribal Worldwide São Paulo, who partnered with Sea Shepherd on the campaign.
‘We aim to remedy this by reaching the largest number of people possible, bringing awareness to the fact that with small and easy steps, we can ensure that terrible scenes like these do not happen,’ he said
In addition to the posters, digital media pieces have been developed, and further information about the impact of plastics is available at www.seashepherd.org.
Sea Shepherd found a dead vaquita porpoise, a critically endangered marine animal of which only about 10 remain in the world. Used to target the totoaba fish, also a critically endangered species of a similar size to the vaquita, the nets are a ‘perfect death trap’
The online content also highlights tips to reduce the use of plastic on a daily basis.
Sea Shepherd carries out beach clean-ups worldwide. The US branch of the organisation has a campaign entitled ‘Operation Clean Waves’.
They collect marine debris that accumulates on offshore islands and in the middle of the ocean.
Sea Shepherd also works with scientists to study the effects of microplastics on marine species.
Just last week, the organisation found a dead vaquita porpoise, a critically endangered marine animal of which only about 10 remain in the world.
The group found it while searching for illegal gillnets off the coast of Mexico, where the last few vaquitas remain.
Gillnets threaten the vaquita porpoise with imminent extinction, according to Sea Shepherd.
Used to target the totoaba fish, also a critically endangered species of a similar size to the vaquita, the nets are a ‘perfect death trap’.
Scientists warn that in 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish in the sea said Sea Shepherd founder and president Captain Paul Watson.
He said: ‘Sea Shepherd is committed to preventing this from happening – because if the oceans die, we die.’
Heartbreaking images show a bloodied seal with plastic netting wrapped so tightly around its neck, it has cut through its skin. The wounded female was found on the Norfolk coast by a local photographer hoping to capture photos of the animals for an annual calendar in January
More than 1,700 species of fish, 338 types of coral, and whale sharks and sea turtles of the Verde Island Passage in the Philippines are having to share space with vast amounts of plastic litter, it was reported last week