4th December 2019, on World Wildlife Conservation Day, the world’s first Marine Cemetery made out of single-use plastic bottles opened its gate at Beypore beach, Kozhikode. Built by Jellyfish Watersports, with the support of Clean Beach Mission, District Administration, Kozhikode, and Beypore Port department, and driven by Climate activist AakashRanison, it aims at spreading awareness about the devastating effects of single-use plastic, urban and industrial pollution, and overfishing. This Cemetery pays respect to 8 critically endangered marine species, along with a freshwater fish – Miss Kerala (Sahyadriadenisonii), that’s endemic to the fast-flowing hill streams and rivers of the Western Ghats (including Chaliyar river).
Seahorse (Hippocampus), Parrotfish (Scariidae), Leatherback turtles (Dermochelyscoriacea), Eagle Rays (Aetomylaeusvespertilio), Sawfish (Pristidae), Dugong (Dugongidae), Zebra shark (Stegostomafasciatum), Hammerhead shark (Sphyrnidae), Miss Kerala (Sahyadriadenisonii) – Freshwater Fish are the Marine species representing their endangered marine family.
A memorial was held there by Mr. S. Sambasiva Rao (District Collector, Kozhikode) and Mr. V.K.C MammedKoya (MLA, Beypore) to sensitize people about the grave issue and make them pledge to quit single-use plastic.
India generates 25,940 tonnes of waste every day. 6.4 million tonnes of marine litter is disposed into our seas annually. 50% of beach litter is plastic waste threatening our marine life. Water and plastic pollution along with overexploitation and climate change have caused the extinction of 15 marine species, and currently threaten the lives of 700 more.
“The Marine Cemetery is a reminder of the destruction that we are bringing upon our planet in the name of convenience. So, we are supporting and promoting this initiative as part of Clean Beach Mission to spread awareness, as it not only educates locals and the world about the effects of single-use plastic, but it will also help Kozhikode become a sustainable travel destination” – S. Sambasiva Rao, District Collector, Kozhikode,
Since 6 years Jellyfish Watersports has been combining recreational water activities with spreading awareness about plastic pollution, the organisation philosophy being Paddle to Preserve. It believes that you preserve only what you love, and paddling is a way to build a strong connection with water bodies.
3 months back it initiated the drive to collect garbage in Chaliyar River Paddle and joined hands with Aakash Ranison, a climate activist to create a bigger impact. They got together paddlers and locals to clean the Beypore beach, and have been encouraging people to pledge to discard one single-use plastic from their lives to start with.
- 100+ paddlers cleaned the Chaliyar river while paddling a 68 km stretch and pledged to give up one single-use plastic thing
- 80+ people collected about 800 kgs of garbage from Beypore Beach, Kozhikode, Kerala
- 200+ people participated online and pledged to give up a single-use plastic thing
OnePlastic Less from your life means millions of plastic less from the environment, creating healthier ecosystems
“Post floods, while we were kayaking in the Chaliyar river, it was horrifying to see the volume of plastic in the surrounding areas. We, humans, are digging the graves for these marine species, literally. We have used and abused single-use plastic, creating havoc in our water bodies and rapidly pushing marine life towards mass extinction. So we thought let’s show people exactly what they are doing, by creating an installation that acts as a constant reminder” says KaushiqKodithodi, founder of Jellyfish Watersports.
Aakash Ranison, climate activist says “This Marine Cemetery is built to jolt mankind, to make them realize the blunder they have done. And, parallelly educate them about the fact that flora and fauna in and around our rivers and oceans are on red alert. It’s time to take steps towards course-correction.”
https://tourismindiaonline.com/farebreeze-com-worlds-first-charter-flight-gds-launched/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuyJJM-G0iM
