Baby Dolphin and the killer plastics!

Once upon a time on a faraway island, there lived together water animals and land animals.

One day, old King Lion called all the animals to celebrate the colourful rays coming into view.

“It's a rainbow!” Mama Pig exclaimed.

“It's a beautiful rainbow”, replied old King Lion.

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.

“It is beautiful for me and you. It means no rain for a thousand more years”, said the old King Lion convincingly to Mama Bear.

Meanwhile, Mama Bear had just lost a baby bear to the sea during the heavy rainfall. This made Mama Bear so sad and in tears. When the rain had come to an end, Mama Dolphin thought of a way to make Mama Bear happy again.

So, Mama Dolphin took a dive into the sea in search of the baby bear. She searched, searched, and searched until , at last, she found the baby bear and took it back to its mother on Waterland Island.

Mama Bear was full of thanks and gratitude and became best friends with Mama Dolphin. Mama Bear promised to repay her good someday, and assured Mama Dolphin that she and Baby bear will always visit them.

Mama Bear and Baby bear were good swimmers but when they visited Mama Dolphin, they could not match her swiftness and could not stay long underwater. With the little time they spent with each other, Mama Bear enjoyed the company of the dolphins. They always put up a show for them and Mama Bear wished they could stay a bit longer. The dolphins understood and together with the bears, they decided that they will remain friends, even though they cannot stay in each other's world.

Little did Mama Bear know that she would be the cause of sorrow to Mama Dolphin in a short while from then.

Do you want to know how?

One day, Mama Bear and Baby Bear had just returned from fishing, and there was enough fish for everyone. Baby Bear was given a plastic bottle of drink by a friend. This made their happy dinner merrier, so both bears enjoyed their fish meal and had the drink to 'work down' this delicious meal… Yummy! Baby Bear took the bottle and disposed it in a nearby drain and came back home in time for bed and slept till the next day.

That night, this plastic container was swept by the drainage into the canals. It floated further to the larger waterways and traveled into the river. After some time moving along the river, the bottle had found its way into the ocean, but now, it had already broken down into micro plastics.

One morning came and Baby Dolphin went on a swim. He had a lot of fun jumping and diving into the ocean. But then, he saw something that looked like a delicious meal and went ahead to eat it. Baby Dolphin swam home to his mother. On his way, he began to feel a sharp pain in his tummy. When he arrived home, he laid at his mother's fins and closed his eyes to never open them again. Sadly,Baby Dolphin died!

Mama Dolphin quickly called the sea doctor to save her baby but it was too late. The doctor told Mama Dolphin that Baby Dolphin was poisoned. Mama Dolphin cried so hard her tears made the ocean salty. She was heartbroken because she had lost her baby for good.

Later on, it was discovered that tiny bits of a plastic bottle floating in the sea had made Baby Dolphin fall ill and die!

The news spread to all the inhabitants of the Waterland Island, and there was so much grief. Everyone mourned with Mama Dolphin, especially Mama Bear who felt a lot of guilt and regret.

Old King Lion then summoned a meeting calling all sea and land creatures to be present. Then he gave the following guidelines to put an end to the death of water animals like Baby Dolphin:

- Keep our environment clean

- Practice recycling

- Avoid littering

- Practice waste segregation

- Save the ocean

- End pollution

- Do our bits to make the world a better place

- Understand that waste means more!

Everyone agreed and spread the word to their friends and families. With a little help from everyone, the ocean was cleaned up of such plastics and they all lived together happily ever after.

THE END.

HAPPY CHILDREN'S DAY 2022!

(This beautiful piece was drafted by volunteers at WasteMeansMore for all young learners! )