Reflection

Reflection

I’ve always been enamored with the ocean and awed by its distinctive and amazing life forms. To me, it’s very sad that our ocean is hurting because of our activity, but it's equally troubling that most people aren’t aware of how they can help. While it's true that we cause most of the problems in our oceans, we alone are equipped to be the solution. Showing that we can make change together is my biggest reason for creating my project. During my research, I learned about what harms our ocean and what we can do to help save it, in some ways that I didn’t expect. The web-based program I created illustrates how the ocean might look not too long from now: a carbon sink littered with plastic, void of life, and filled with bleached coral. Anyone can interact with my program by adjusting sliders that represent a wide range of human activities, to see and understand how their everyday actions impact the oceans and life in them. While there are many reasons for our oceans suffering, people need to know that we as individuals can make a difference, so that together, we can make change happen. I hope my program not only informs viewers how each factor affects the ocean, but inspires them to transform their hope into action to save our oceans.