From time to time, people stop and look around them. What do they sometimes see? Things to improve.
Such was the case with The Power Penguins, Milly Upton and a few groups which were there to make things happen and support them.
Did you know that 300,000 whales, dolphins and other cetaceans are killed annually by fishing equipment? Or that 94 percent of Fulmars in the North Sea have ingested plastic? I bet you wouldn’t like to have that for breakfast, lunch or dinner, would you? But then why do approximately 8 million individual pieces of marine litter enter the sea every day? Why?
The topic of ocean pollution and marine plastics has been very much in the media in recent weeks and months, and with the Paris Climate Summit in December, the timing of the release is perfect to help bring attention to the topic. The release of Commotion in the Ocean has been made possible by a Pledge Music campaign and the hard work of The Power Penguins in raising both funds for Surfers Against Sewage, but also the issues of Marine Plastics.
We love the ocean. Now that might sound like a no brainer as we’re penguins, but we really love the ocean. We are the Power Penguins! Our oceans, waves, beaches and wildlife are facing many threats. From climate change, sewage pollution and dangerous shipping practices, to marine litter and much more, we face a huge challenge to protect what we love.
Perhaps most challenging of all is the threat posed by marine litter (most of which is plastic). As penguins we are surrounded by this ever growing ‘plastic soup’ whenever we go in the water. Not only does it mar the beauty of our homes, marine litter causes the deaths of over 100,000 marine mammals and turtles and over 1 million sea birds (like us!) each year because we sadly mistake the litter for food and our bellies become full of plastic or for fun and get tangled up in it. There are now 5.25 trillion items of litter in the world’s oceans, so unless we do something now, things are only going to get worse for us and our friends.
Now being penguins we obviously love music very much and during the Somersault Festival in the summer we worked with our friends Milly Upton, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) and Indie Kitchen to write a song to raise awareness of the marine litter crisis and to raise money for SAS’s Big Spring Beach Clean. That song is Commotion in the Ocean!
Of course, The Power Penguins aren’t real life talking penguins, but that doesn’t take the cute out of the group. They’re just 13 kids (from 6 to 12 year olds) who met at Somersault Festival. Their love for music and oceans was what made them want to do something to protect them.
They found support in the Surfers Against Sewage environmental charity which shares their aims to protect the UK’s oceans, waves, beaches and wildlife for everyone to enjoy, for ever! Each year they organise over 500 beach cleans across the UK and encourage over 10,000 people to remove many tonnes of litter from our beautiful beaches. The Big Spring Beach Clean is massive! Earlier this year over 6500 people joined SAS at 185 beaches to remove over 25 tonnes from our coastline. However SAS would like to go bigger and better again in 2016 and aim to organise 200.
And they don’t stop there: it was decided that the money that ‘Commotion in the Ocean’ raises will go directly towards helping more schools and young people to get involved with the Big Spring Beach Clean. This money will enable SAS to provide 50 schools across the UK with materials that will raise awareness and offer the possibility for other people to get involved in small or big ways.
So now, you tell me: if these young human beings are able to relate to all these problems and try to do something about it, what are we, the adults, waiting for?
