“Time For Ocean Aid” was released on 2 February, World Wetlands Day. My song features synth and piano by Crum, who has played in Shockhead, Hawkwind, and The Moonloonies, but now fronts STARRATS. His keyboard wizardry gives my acoustic protest song a space-rock and psychedelic flavour. Psyche-folk is a new genre for my music. Daz, also from STARRATS, has created the music video for “Time For Ocean Aid.” I had recorded the basic acoustic track with the help of Ricardo Verdelho at his VerdelhoStudio in Quinta do Conde in Portugal. The lyrics for “Time For Ocean Aid” were included in my new book, Saving Mother Ocean, which was published on 26 November, 2021, by Moon Books. It tells the story, not only of “Time For Ocean Aid,” but also for my song “Where Does All The Plastic Go?” and how I responded to the call to action I felt. In my songs and book I am hoping to motivate many more people to take action in any way they feel, to help save not only the oceans but the environment, wildlife habitats, and life on Earth! The lyrics are:
We've got to save the birds, we've got to save the bees, We've got to save the forests, we've got to save the seas. When I look at all the mess we've made, I think it's time for ocean aid. Micro-plastic pollution, it's bound to make you think, it is even in the air and the water that we drink. The Amazon has burned so much, Australia's been burning too, Wildfires are the new normal, so what are we gonna do?
We've got to save the birds, we've got to save the bees, We've got to save the forests, we've got to save the seas. When I look at all the mess we've made, I think it's time for ocean aid.
There's an insect Armageddon, a sixth great extinction underway, But keep the economy growing, There's more jobs I hear them say.
We've got to save the birds, we've got to save the bees, We've got to save the forests, we've got to save the seas. When I look at all the mess we've made, I think it's time for ocean aid.
Where are the real world leaders? Please tell me where they are. The ones in the media are just talking more blah-blah.
We've got to save the birds, we've got to save the bees, We've got to save the forests, we've got to save the seas. When I look at all the mess we've made, I think it's time for ocean aid.
“Time For Ocean Aid” is part of my much bigger, in fact mind-bogglingly massive, “Ocean Aid” project. You see, I am hoping that one day there will be a stadium-sized “Ocean Aid” concert, or concerts, with many internationally famous rock and pop acts taking part. It is an international campaign too because the oceans are under threat worldwide. Plastic pollution, overfishing, seabed mining, oil spills, nuclear waste, “dead zones,” coral bleaching, military testing and sonar, as well as, last but certainly not least, climate change, are all taking a heavy toll on marine life and the health of the oceans. I want to raise funds for Sea Shepherd and was honoured by having Captain Paul Watson, who founded Sea Shepherd, endorsing my book Saving Mother Ocean. My message is finding media coverage around the world but I need it to keep on doing so. So far I have been in Filippo Solibello’s book SPAM Stop Plastic A Mare, published in Italy, I’ve been featured twice in The Portugal News, been on the radio in Spain, Ireland and the US, been featured in the GONZO Weekly in England, given coverage in The Wave magazine of the Rotary Club of Wyndham Harbour in Australia. In Wales, the country I was born in, I am delighted to have the full support of Mike Kennedy, who runs SWND Magazine and the SWND Records label. “Ocean Aid” has been featured in a 2-page article in the SWND Magazine.
Please help me spread the word about “Ocean Aid!” It is certainly time for helping to save the seas!
“Ocean Aid” has been an idea, an aim, a developing international project, and now a song. I have talked about “Ocean Aid'' in books, in magazines, a newspaper, on websites, on podcasts and on the radio. “Ocean Aid” has been featured in articles or interviews with me, in Italy, Portugal, Wales, England, Ireland, Spain, Australia, and the USA. Like, I said it is an international project. Italian radio host and author, Filippo Solibello, gave me a 4-page chapter in his book SPAM Stop Plastic A Mare.
He was touring Italy promoting his book and also telling people about my song and ideas. I was looking forward to going over to Italy to join him at some point but then the pandemic struck. Despite lockdowns and restrictions I have kept working doing what I can online and in any media that will give me a platform to spark out on. I am reaching out to people all around the world to take action to help save the oceans and the marine life in them. The idea for “Ocean Aid” originally came to me when I wrote my song “Where Does All The Plastic Go?,” which I recorded and released in 2019.
Everyone will remember “Live Aid” and the massive concert that went under that banner, with many internationally famous acts performing for the event. I thought that ideally a concert of that sort of magnitude could some day take place at a stadium sized venue somewhere. The aim would be to raise awareness of the threats to the ocean, as well as raising funds for a charitable organisation like Sea Shepherd, an organisation that is already working hard at reversing the terrible damage to the seas and marine life in them. I chose Sea Shepherd because I believe it is the organisation most committed to saving the seas, and that it is treating the matter as a top priority. Captain Paul Watson, who founded Sea Shepherd has said: “If the ocean dies, we die.” I started my new book Saving Mother Ocean with this quotation from Captain Paul. It shows how urgently we should all be thinking about what we can do to save the ocean. It is a call to action, as is my book, and songs. I use the plural “songs” because I wrote another, with the title “Time For Ocean Aid.” I have been playing it live and online, and opened an Ocean Aid concert that was performed in Feb, 2021 with the help of the regular singers and musicians from Rew Starr’s ReW & WhO? Show from New York. We raised some funds for Sea Shepherd, and I had seen my idea become an actual reality, even if on a small scale. Since then I have been telling musicians and promoters to organise their own “Ocean Aid” concerts. I want to see this type of event taking place all around the world, because saving the seas really should be a priority around the planet. I recently recorded my song “Time For Ocean Aid” at the Verdelho Studio, in Quinta do Conde, in Portugal, where I am based.
My good friend Crum, formerly of Shockhead, Hawkwind, and the Moonloonies, and now with a new band called STARRATS, very kindly added his keyboard wizard skills to overdub some piano and synthesiser. This has really added to my song and given it a space-rock feel which works well with the basic acoustic protest song. Daz, also from STARRATS, has created a music video to go with it. I will be releasing “Time For Ocean Aid” on 2 February, which is World Wetlands Day, and which seemed an apt time to do this. It really is TIME FOR OCEAN AID!
My new book Saving Mother Ocean is part of the Earth Spirit series from Moon Books and was published on 26 November 2012. It opens with a quote from Captain Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd, and he says: “If the ocean dies, we die.” I chose this quotation when writing my book because it sums up what a serious situation this is. Most people are aware of the plastic pollution problem but there are many more threats to the oceans. Overfishing, seabed mining, acidification, sonar and military testing, nuclear waste dumping, pollution from other sources besides plastic, and climate change, are all taking a heavy toll. Coral reefs are in danger from coral bleaching. I cover all these subjects in my book, taking a look at the problems. I look at solutions too and explain my personal journey, and what taking action has meant for me. Really this is an important part of my message to readers, because I am hoping to inspire as many people as possible to take action that is suited to their lives. We can all do something to help save the seas, and save the environment and life as we know it on this planet. I mention Greta Thunberg several times as an example of a person who decided she had to do all she could and to encourage others to do likewise. In fact, I have devoted a whole chapter, entitled “Let The Children Lead Us” to young activists who have spoken out and made changes in their lives because they felt a calling to do this. Speaking of young people, who are activists, I included 13-year-old Lilly Platt, who is a Global Youth Ambassador and is most famous for her lillysplasticpickup project.
Lilly collects plastic and other litter and displays what she has done on social media. Many people around the world are cleaning up beaches and their local environment, and this is spreading. I talk about how reduction is so important, reduction of the amount of plastic we buy, reduction of the amounts going into the environment, and reduction in all the ways that the consumerist world we live in is destroying nature. I have included the story behind my songs, “Where Does All The Plastic Go?”
and “Time For Ocean Aid” and how I came up with the idea for “Ocean Aid” concerts. I have been getting publicity around the world, for my songs, book and idea. So far Italy, Portugal, Spain, Wales, England, Ireland, Australia, and the US, are the countries that have given me a platform to discuss plastic pollution and other threats to the oceans. Taking action can open all sorts of unexpected doorways. An example of one of these, has resulted in me becoming a Rotarian. The Rotary Club of Wyndham Harbour in Australia discovered me on Instagram and featured me in their The Wave magazine pages 80 and 81. I began attending Rotary meetings online and discovered not only were there many Rotarians keen on listening to what I had to say, but also very many who were environmentalists and activists worldwide. I went on to join ESRAG (Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action). The fact that it was an Australian club that featured me fitted well with how I look at the problem of the threats to Mother Ocean. The oceans do not belong to anyone, we all share them, and depend on them, so the more countries that want to help me raise awareness the better. I am really pleased to be able to announce that Saving Mother Ocean is available from good book suppliers in most parts of the world. Just try Googling it where you are. I am also delighted with the endorsements my book has had, and the reviews that are starting to be shared.
I was honoured to have Captain Paul Watson’s endorsement, which is included on the back cover, and I will leave the last word to him: “Steve Andrews understands that the key to defending and protecting life and diversity in the Ocean is to use what you are good at to find solutions to seemingly impossible problems. The strength of an eco-system depends upon diversity and interdependence within it. By harnessing our passions to the virtues of courage and imagination we can find impossible solutions to seemingly impossible problems. Saving Mother Ocean is inspiring, informative and a call to action by all of us to save the Mother to all of us - the Ocean.”
I am leading the way with songs about plastic pollution with my song Where Does All The Plastic Go? But I also came up with an idea for Ocean Aid Concerts to raise awareness about threats to the oceans and to raise funds for charities that are working on saving the seas and the marine life in them.
Time was ticking by and although many people said what a great idea this is, nothing actual in the way of events was happening. I had had the dream of a massive concert in a stadium somewhere, a concert following in the worthy footsteps of Live Aid with many internationally famous singers, bands and musicians on the bill. It was a very big dream but there’s nothing wrong with that. I was hoping to start with something smaller to help get word out there and eventually this would lead to an Ocean Aid Concert with very big names on the bill. But then came the Covid-19 pandemic and put a stop to so many things. With lockdowns and restrictions the world of music was hit very badly indeed, and as it stands currently even big festivals like Glastonbury have had to be cancelled again. But musicians soon realised that even if they could no longer play on actual stages at offline events they could still play online at live streamed virtual concerts. I started doing this myself and soon befriended a lot of talented singer-songwriters and musicians who are regular performers on Rew Starr’s ReW & WhO? Show from NYC. This year I decided that action needed to be taken to actually get Ocean Aid Concerts really happening. No more talk about it but action! I concluded too that word would soon spread and because plastic pollution is a threat to the oceans and environment worldwide, the more of these concerts the better and the more countries that get involved the better too. In all media coverage this year I am getting, I am talking about Ocean Aid Concerts. I have one planned and many performers from the ReW & WhO? Show are joining me for this. Acts on the bill are myself, Rew Starr, Brute Force, Carol Lester, Donald Black Cat, Joel Landy, Mimsey MacCormack, Dennis Doyle, Tucky Parkis, Yvonne Sotomayor, Rock’n’Roll Johnny Bod, Kenn Rowell, and Marilynn Larkin, Ondine PM.
The concert is taking place on 10 February at 8pm - 10pm UTC (3pm - 5pm EST). I am supporting Sea Shepherd because this organisation is already out there saving the oceans and the marine life in them. It will be livestreamed on several Internet platforms but the best place to find it is here: http://www.hotindiemedia.com/
I had intended using the JustGiving fundraiser website to collect donations for Sea Shepherd but the site is confusing. At one place it claims that users can donate from all around the world and in several currencies, which is why I thought it would work fine, but elsewhere it explains that donations cannot be accepted for charities outside the EU: “You may notice that you’re not able to donate to certain charities outside of the European Union. This is because they adhere to different local laws and may use different payment products which at this time, don’t allow you to make choices about whether or not the charity receiving your donation can see your information.” I had discovered that people in the UK and The Netherlands were unable to donate and this would explain it. I sent a message to JustGiving Support four days ago but they still have not replied. I suppose they don’t know how to when their site contradicts itself!
A friend suggested I tried using GoFundMeCharity, and after some initial problems there, with the help of someone in the site's support department, I now have a campaign site working there. The JustGiving link for donations appears to work for Americans and it can stay, so please use it if you are in the US (Canada may work too and other non-EU countries), but if you are in the UK or EU please donate via this new GoFundMe link.
Many people talk about Mother Earth but I think we should also talk about Mother Ocean, after all, the oceans are where all life began long, long ago, according to science. Today the dangers to marine life are many. Besides plastic pollution, overfishing, agricultural run-off causing dead zones, seabed mining, military testing, acidification, coral bleaching, nuclear waste dumping and climate change are all taking a very heavy toll too. So please support Ocean Aid with your donation and by spreading the word!
An Ocean Aid Concert is an idea I have had for several years and been trying to get off the ground. It would be a follow-on from Band Aid and Live Aid but this time would be focused on raising awareness about the threats to the oceans of the world, such as, plastic pollution, overfishing and acidification, all of which are taking a very heavy toll on marine life.
Of course, I would love to think that the day will arrive when many world famous acts would take part in a massive concert that would get televised and receive international publicity and coverage, but right now with the lockdown restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, most concerts this year and big festivals too, have all been cancelled. But not the online ones, where there is no risk of spreading or becoming infected with the disease. So, with the help of my good friend Paul Richmond aka Zest Radio Show, I have come up with an idea to get Ocean Aid Concert 2020 actually happening. If singer-songwriters, singers and bands have songs about the environment they would like to contribute, what I would need is a video of their song. Ideally the songs should have something to do with the oceans but songs about nature and the environment fit with this too. The idea is for me to create a Youtube playlist entitled Ocean Aid Concert and the videos would be included in it, giving everyone some publicity and raising the profile of the Ocean Aid campaign.
At this stage it is all about getting this happening and raising awareness. Fund-raising would be part of a much bigger Ocean Aid Concert, and I have thought money could be raised for organisations that help the oceans and marine life, organisations, such as, Sea Shepherd, and Greenpeace, but all of this would be decided on a later date.
Besides singers and musicians, the Ocean Aid Concert could also include videos of poets with their poems on the subject, readings of prose by writers who want to get involved, and videos of suitable artwork. The Ocean Aid Concert is not just music and song but all creative arts.
SPAM by Filippo Solibello, a Book about Plastic Pollution
Last year a book entitled SPAM - Stop Plastica a Mare was published in Italy. The author is Filippo Solibello, and he is a well-known radio host in his country. I am very proud to say there is a four-page chapter in this book with the title Where Does All The Plastic Go?, which is also the title of a protest song of mine.
The chapter is about me, my song and my ideas about the worldwide problem of plastic pollution. When Filippo interviewed me back in 2018 I told him about my idea for an Ocean Aid Concert and he asked if I minded if he spread the word in Italy. I said, no, not at all, because I just want to see this event happen and it doesn’t matter where! Well, since the publication of SPAM, the author had been touring Italy promoting his book and telling people about my idea. He was also showing videos of my song.
He managed to get a copy of his book to Pope Francis and received media coverage because of that. I was invited to go over to Italy at some point but then the Covid-19 pandemic struck and all plans had to be put on hold. This is why I am thinking we can get this Ocean Aid Concert going online. So please get in touch if you want to be included or can help in any way! Please also share this blog and let’s get Ocean Aid Concert happening! To make a start with this happening I have created an Ocean Aid Concert playlist at Youtube featuring any songs I thought fitted the bill. It includes a few big names, such as, Neil Young, Kate Nash, Jack Johnson and Ed Sheeran.
With the ongoing Climate Crisis and serious threat of extinction for so many species I have been writing and performing protests songs and songs that draw attention to the environment and to dangers to the wildlife of the world. I have four songs like this on my recent album Songs of the Now and Then, which is released in CD format and as a digital release on bandcamp, and was produced by Jayce Lewis. The CD is environmentally friendly because the tray and packaging is made from recycled eggbox. But now let’s take a look at the songs!
Where Does All The Plastic Go?
Where Does All The Plastic Go? Started life as a poem but I decided to make a song out of it because no one else in the world of music was singing about this problem that affects us all. There is a video made by Filipe Rafael and filmed in Portugal, and this video has had over 19,200 views on Facebook.
My song has been featured in The Portugal News and I was featured on the front page with a caption: “Singing Against Pollution P11.” It has also been featured in a book by Italian radio host and author Filippo Solibello.
In SPAM Stop Plastic A Mare, the author has given a 4-page chapter to it entitled Where Does All The Plastic Go? Filippo has been promoting his book and my song all over Italy and managed to get a copy to Pope Francis. He is also spreading the word about my idea for an Ocean Aid concert, like Band Aid and Live Aid but this time to raise awareness of the crisis at sea caused by plastic pollution , as well as overfishing and other threats to life in the oceans.
I am hoping that this concert will happen and will attract not only big sponsors but very big name bands and singers, who will be willing to take part. Money raised can be distributed to charities helping the oceans. Which ones is yet to be decided on but there are many. Streaming and free downloads of Where Does All The Plastic Go? are available at Reverb Nation.
The Nightingale
The Nightingale, is a song that not only talks about the threat of habitat destruction that is causing a serious decline in this iconic songbird , but talks about the problems caused by development schemes all over the UK and elsewhere. Land-grabs of green belt and forested areas are causing an incredible amount of destruction of the homes of a vast number of species of wildlife. It makes reference too, to the ongoing felling of trees in cities and towns. The song starts with the lyrics: “You’ll never hear a nightingale if their homes are no longer there, destroyed by a developer who doesn’t really care, despite their claims otherwise about biodiversity, ripped up hedges and bulldozed land’s the reality I see.” The Nightingale features vocals from well-known Welsh poet Mab Jones on the choruses. This song is very topical due to all the protests that continue in the UK, where people are trying their best to stop the destruction of the forests and countryside. As I write, there are ongoing demonstrations to Stop HS2, but many more protests are taking place to save the wild places of Britain.
Citizen of Earth
Citizen Of Earth is actually an old song of mine that has been brought up to date with a new recording. I have been aware of the problems the world faces for a long time but everything has got so much worse. This is why I am making protest songs my focus. Citizen of Earth makes reference to the cult TV series The Prisoner, which starred Patrick McGoohan as Number Six. It talks about social unrest and about how people are trapped in a system that is similar in many ways to the Roman Empire. “The Roman Empire was much like today, Patricians and Plebeians and social decay, until the fires burned it all away, the ghost of Nero’s still fiddling. Citizen of Earth has been played on Roque Duarte’s show on the radio in Portugal and has inspired two very different videos. One was made by Ludgero Corvo and the other is an animation by Simon C. Watch them both and see which one you like best!
Butterfly In My Beard
Butterfly In My Beard is the most lighthearted of these songs, though it still raises awareness about wildlife, in this case it is talking about butterflies. I rear these insects and the verses of my song refer to real-life incidents. I have had Monarch butterflies on my beard. The second verse goes: “They called me the Bugman on the news one time…. they called me the Bugman on the news, a Hissing Cockroach on my head got plenty of views…” These lyrics are about the time I was in the South Wales Echo in an article about how I kept exotic insects.
When I perform the song live I get the audience to join in by “making butterflies” with their linked outstretched hands and by giving me a “yeah” at the right places. I am hoping to audition this song in front of the judges of Britain’s Got Talent.
Where Does All The Plastic Go? started life as a poem I blogged about here, back in December 2015. Since then I have been watching the situation getting worse with plastic pollution continuing, and it appears from news reports that plastic is now found in every environment on the planet, from the frozen Arctic to the highest mountains, and even at the deepest parts of the ocean. This is insane! This is an ongoing tragedy!
I have been waiting in vain to hear protest songs being written about this subject, which affects us all and is a great danger to life on Earth. I say, “in vain” because as far as I know there are no well-known singer-songwriters or rock bands talking about plastic pollution in their lyrics. This motivated me to create a song from my poem. I recorded Where Does All The Plastic Go? at Northstone Studios in Bridgend, with the help of Jayce Lewis as my producer. I knew I would get a really professional recording by working with Jayce, who has recently been touring with Gary Numan, and who has worked with Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen, as well as the late great Steve Strange (Visage).
I am happy to say that Where Does All The Plastic Go? has been trending on Reverb Nation, and you can stream and download the song here: Where Does All The Plastic Go? I want my song to get heard as widely as possible. Please share it any way you can!
The Problem's Been Getting Worse
Plastic is constantly entering our oceans via rivers and streams and drains. Our cities and countryside are littered with plastic trash, landfills are full of the stuff and it is everywhere! Most disturbingly, plastic is in the food chain, and as micro particles has even been detected in bottled water. The number of marine creatures that have eaten plastic is truly alarming, and they get eaten in turn by other predators, including humans! Plastic is often in the seafood and fish we eat.
Turtles, whales and seabirds are swallowing floating plastic rubbish. They cannot digest it, they cannot excrete it, and it builds up inside, eventually killing many of them. Albatross parent birds mistakenly feed the trash to their chicks, which then die as their bellies fill with the toxic garbage.
And it isn’t going to go away unless we do something to solve this. Plastic does not breakdown like other forms of rubbish. It does not decompose and go back into the natural environment. Animals cannot digest it. Plastic breaks into smaller and smaller pieces. It can be here for 500 years or more. Most of the plastic ever made is still on this planet somewhere! Plastic also has another hidden danger because it absorbs toxins and then carries them, so it is also poisonous if ingested. Plastic itself becomes hidden. Tiny particles of hard plastic get mixed with the sand of beaches. In some places the number of particles of plastic to the number of natural sand is truly alarming. Same goes for floating plastic particles that outnumber plankton in many parts of the sea. Marine creatures that feed on plankton are feeding on plastic as well now.
Sir David Attenborough
Fortunately for us all, Sir David Attenborough, in his TV broadcasts, has captured the world’s attention with regard to the dangers of plastic pollution, and at last the problem is getting widely reported in the media. Many organisations and people worldwide are trying to stop the pollution getting worse and there are many efforts being made to clean up the oceans. One of the most important is The Ocean Cleanup, which has come about due to the pioneering ideas and determination of Dutch inventor and entrepreneur Boyan Slat. Check out his Ocean Cleanup website to see what is happening!
Ocean Aid
We need as many people as possible to do whatever they can to help stop plastic pollution getting any worse and to clean up the worldwide mess we have. Everybody can do something by applying any or all of the four Rs: ReUSE, ReDUCE, ReCYCLE and ReFUSE! A worldwide effort is needed and needed NOW!
I have had an idea to help raise even more awareness and get more people and organisations on board. My idea is for a massive concert to be held and called OCEAN AID. It will be following in the musical footsteps of Band Aid and Live Aid. I can see big name acts wanting to be involved if such an event can happen.
Mick Jagger
By the way, a shout-out to Mick Jagger, who is a rock star who has spoken out about plastic pollution in a recent tweet. Mick @MickJagger tweeted: "I've pledged to reduce single-use plastic in my life & support@weareproject0 &@skyoceanrescue. Refuse plastic straws & cutlery, use refillable water bottles coffee cups, & bring your own bag to the store. Together we can do this! Join me & take the challenge to#PassOnPlastic"
I am thinking BIG but it is a very BIG problem! Please help in any way you can!
The European Eel (Anguilla anguilla) used to be known as the Common Eel, and when I was a boy this was an apt name, however, this is no longer the case because this species of eel is now listed as Critically Endangered. In 2010, Greenpeace International added this fish to its red list.
European Eel (Photo: Public Domain)
European Eels have a most unusual lifecycle. The adults spawn in the Sargasso Sea and the baby eels travel across the oceans to return to fresh waters far far away. How they navigate is not understood. They drift as larval eels for around 300 days before transforming into a stage known as "glass eels," which occurs when they approach the coasts. Eventually they enter estuaries in the UK and Europe and transform again into elvers in the fresh water. The eels travel upstream and will also travel overland in storms. They live in rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds where they grow much larger and are known as "yellow eels," but after between five and twenty years or more they become adults that must return to the sea. The final stage is known as the "silver eel," and these eels swim all the way back to the Sargasso Sea where they breed and then die.
When I was younger the European Eel used to be one of the most easily found freshwater fish. You just had to go to any river or stream and turn over a few stones and you would be likely to see young eels or elvers. In Cardiff, where I lived, there is a weir in Llandaff, and every year countless thousands of elvers used to try and ascend it. To do this they would leave the water at the edge of the weir and slither up the mossy wet rocks and wall. If you put a bucket or net underneath and disturbed the mass of young eels at the top you would quickly get a net or bucket full of them. That was how easy they were to catch. Nearly every rock in the river would have elvers hiding underneath it or larger eels. That was then but it is a very different story today, so what has happened?
One of many endangered species
Like so many once common species, the European Eel is now rarely seen in Britain today and its numbers have dropped very dramatically. Since the 1970s, it has been estimated that eels reaching Europe have declined in numbers by over 90%, possibly as much as 98%. This is surely a warning sign that all is not at all well, when it comes to the natural world and the flora and fauna of the UK.
So what has gone so wrong and where have all the eels gone? The reasons are many and include: overfishing, hydroelectric dams and barrages blocking the way for the eels to ascend and descend rivers, parasites, pollution and changes in the currents in the oceans. Whatever the cause may be, the eels have gone, and with them has gone the food source for many species of water birds, including Kingfishers, predatory fish, like the Pike, and even some mammals too, such as the Otter. The eel is an important part of a food-chain, and without it other species are sure to suffer.
Saving the European Eel
Fortunately all hope is not yet lost for the future survival of the European Eel. Fish passes are being increasingly installed in rivers with weirs and dams, so that eels and other fish, such as salmon, are able to get upstream.
The number of eels is being monitored and there are projects in operation to save the European Eel. Restocking inland waters with young eels is one method that is being put into practise.
The Guardian has reported that conservationists have suggested that the decline in numbers of the species has been halted and possibly reversed. I hope this is true but it is far too early to know for sure!
Rachel Carson's best-selling book Silent Spring gave a grim warning about the dangers of pesticides when it was published in 1962. It correctly predicted that DDT and other pesticides would take a terrible toll on wildlife, and in particular birds. Without birds singing it would be a Silent Spring, and hence the title. Her book spurred on the environmental movement in a massive way, caused many changes and became a modern classic but it couldn't predict the extreme danger from plastic pollution that was fast approaching. In the 1960s when Carson's book came out less than 5% of seabirds had plastic inside them but by the 1980s it had increased dramatically to 80%.
90% of seabirds have eaten plastic
National Geographic has recently revealed in a shocking report by Laura Parker that today as many as 90% of marine birds have eaten plastic. That means most seagulls, gannets, shearwaters, terns, albatrosses, frigate birds, petrels, kittiwakes, razorbills, boobies, penguins and puffins are likely to have swallowed plastic. The birds mistake plastic for sea creatures and fish with dire results. They are unable to digest plastic, unable to excrete it and so the toxic material accumulates somewhere inside them. As the plastic builds up with each plastic item swallowed so the room for real food gets less. Plastic also contains toxins that can gradually poison a bird to various degrees and lead to its reproductive failure. Sharp-edged plastic items can puncture internal organs and lead to bleeding and death.
Washed up plastic trash (Photo: Public Domain)
This is happening worldwide because waste plastic is being carried down rivers, streams and sewers into the oceans, in addition to the discarded plastic rubbish from ships and left carelessly littering beaches and coastlines. Plastic is washing up on beaches and looks almost like dead fish. Plastic items including bottles, bottle-caps, cups, bags, straws, lighters, spoons, toys and pieces of plastic packaging are floating around or washed onto beaches and look like food to a hungry seabird.
It is not just at sea because gulls that are so well-suited as scavengers, and which are increasingly colonising our cities and feeding from rubbish dumps are mistaking plastic for food too with disastrous results as can be seen in this video.
Seagull eating a plastic bag
It is estimated that by 2050 every seabird will have eaten plastic!
The magnificent albatross, in all of the species, is a type of seabird in which plastic pollution is causing widespread fatalities among the chicks. Parent birds are feeding all sorts of plastic items to their hungry babies not knowing that they are actually killing their young ones. The baby birds cannot regurgitate the plastic trash and cannot digest it either. The rubbish accumulates inside them and they become undernourished, stressed and eventually die. The helpless parent birds can only look on in horror!
The following video shows how bad the situation really is:
Plastic in albatross chicks at Midway Atoll
All types of albatross are recognised as endangered species. Can you imagine a world without these birds? Can you imagine a world without seabirds where we can no longer hear the cry of the seagull?
Seagulls in flight (Photo: Public Domain)
Can you picture rocky cliffs and islands no longer used as breeding sites for seabird colonies? Plastic is one of the many serious threats to seabirds of all types and, the way things are going, it looks as if these birds are heading for extinction unless something can be done to halt their decline.
Whales and turtles
Footage of whale who died after eating plastic bags
And it is not just the seabirds that are in danger because of plastic trash that they eat. Whales and turtles, as well as many other types of marine life are eating the material. Beached and dead whales are being found with masses of plastic bags and other rubbish inside them and turtles too are suffering the same fate of dying after consuming plastic. These marine reptiles eat the material after mistaking it for jellyfish.
Please help me spread the word about “Ocean Aid!” It is certainly time for helping to save the seas! 
