Heraklion, Crete

These are the 5 schools involved in

the eTwinning Project "Go Fish!"

Gaia, Portugal

Siegburg, Germany

Zagreb, Croatia

Pombal, Portugal

Imagine you live by the sea and because of climate change your village or city is immersed and disappears from the face of this planet. Imagine that we, humans, fill the ocean with so much plastic that it turns out to be a plastic patch and not an ocean anymore.

Now imagine a generation of teenagers who want to stop this.

That’s us!

We are a group of students that live in Portugal, and we are from Dr. Joaquim Gomes Ferreira Alves Secondary School, in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.

Our goal is to let you know about our eTwinning project “Go Fish!”

It’s a European project, involving five schools from Portugal, Greece, Croatia and Germany, and a total of about 250 students aged 9-19 years old. We are studying the effects of plastic and microplastic in marine ecosystems.

We don’t have the results yet but one of the activities we wanted to do was a beach clean-up. We specifically wanted to clean Valadares beach, named after our school patron Dr. Ferreira Alves (who built a hospital in the early 20th century by the sea to cure patients with tuberculosis and orthopedic illnesses through the power of the sun and the ocean). Due to COVID-19 we couldn’t clean the beach, but we will next year, for sure!

At the beach we are going to collect some plastic samples and bring them to school where we will reuse

them to make the community aware of the amount of plastic there is and its impact on the marine ecosystems. That’s also when we will release the results of our experiments.

Even if we don’t have all the results yet, we want you to be aware of something: every day we are polluting our oceans, and this amount of harm we are causing our planet is going to affect all of us in long-term. That is why we need to become more conscious of the damage we are causing our planet, and we need to stop polluting

and stop consuming and wasting the natural resources, and start recycling, reusing and even refusing, when it comes to plastic waste and many other forms of polluting our Home.

And we need to start doing it NOW, you need to start acting now! 

10J

The Ocean is the heart of the planet. Water covers more than 2/3 of the Earth’s surface and even being something we, as a community, are interested in exploring, the ocean can be considered something quite scary because more than 80% of it is unmapped. Although it has its own mysteries, the ocean is vital to humans. It provides us with food, jobs and entertainment without it, we cannot survive. Some might think that the ocean separates continents and, sometimes, even families but we can’t forget that it also contributed and still contributes to the discovery of new lands and communication with other cultures. However, as time went by, the world’s population started to grow and their demands started to grow as well. Because of this, more products were being produced than needed, and the leftovers people didn’t use? Thrown into the ocean, bombarding it with pollution.

   Unfortunately, this reality still remains intact in present days and it is, definitely, time to change it!

One of the projects that is trying to overcome this problem is our eTwinning project “Go Fish!”.

     This project has the main purpose of raising awareness amongst schools from different countries while organizing a common day for an eco-citizen ocean clean-up day.

I believe that with some effort we’ll get there and it is by doing these little things, whether just picking up trash from streets or beaches, or by telling your friend about it, that difference can be made. I think that this is a very important initiative and I’m thrilled to be part of it.

Francisca M., 12º L

In the Meantime...

The ocean holds the memories of innumerable years of evolution. Every drop of water that makes up the unfathomable length of our oceans has been - and will be - here for millions of years, enduring uncountable transformations; long before we existed and long after we’re gone.

However, in the meantime, we must be sensible enough to ensure the continuation of such cycles and its natural deviations, mitigating as far as possible our negative influence on them through our excessive activities.

Perhaps the message in a bottle that travelled six thousand kilometres in the space of nine years may serve as an inspiration and a shred of hope for all of us; that every small action that we take daily to protect our planet

and its oceans, in particular, will have an impact, even if the results aren’t immediate or grand.

Like the ripples of a stone that was thrown into the water, let our environmentally-conscious decisions create the change we wish to see in the world.

For it, let’s rely on one other.

To learn good practices and spread values of respect and love, either through messages in bottles or other preferred means of communication.

Mariana F., 12ºC

All the ocean waste situation is a real, dangerous, problematic reality. All that waste, specifically situated in rivers, is carried by those to the ocean, having a terrible impact onto the ocean itself, its beauty and the ecosystem that lives inside that different world.

Furthermore, although it is often overlooked, ocean waste is harmful to human lives, too. That fish, changed due to our pollution, will be eaten by us or other people. This problem starts with human action and it is also through it that we can find a solution.

This is where the eTwinning project "Go Fish" kicks in. This project and its contributors are making a change not only by their actions on this matter but also by influencing other people's actions.

Besides saving and valuing our home, this project has the power of making us closer than ever, joining forces and start getting our hands dirty.

If you found this "bottle" and read this message, it's time to share it with those around you and throw it back into the ocean so that so many others can do the same. Our actions will determine our fate!

Sara C., 12ºL

The environment is the natural world that surrounds us. However, nowadays oceans are being polluted by the narcissism of the human being. And we need to stop that.

The nature is considered one of the most important things in the life of the human-being. People need air, land, animals, to live in a healthy and peaceful lifestyle. Nevertheless, with the advance of technology, the oceans and rivers are being destroyed. Every day a large amount of garbage is thrown into the oceans; nowadays there are more plastic than fish in our oceans.

Why are we doing this? Why are we destroying something that we need to survive?

These actions are causing a huge impact in nature.

Seals, whales, dolphins, seabirds, fish, crabs and many other sea animals are dying and becoming sick because of these deadly actions. After ingesting micro plastic, marine animals may suffer for months or years before they die.

In order to prevent this, we need to stop “killing” the oceans, and be more conscious about our future. There are so many simple things that we can do in our daily basis to stop this: we can reduce the use of plastic; we should also recycle properly.

Recycling helps keep plastic out of the ocean and reduces the amount of “new” plastic circulating; we can also participate in a beach or river cleanup, but most importantly we all need to spread the word, by staying informed on issues related to plastic pollution and help making others aware of this problem.

To conclude, we need the oceans in our life and it doesn´t make sense destroying them. People are suffering from their own mistakes because the truth is that we need the planet, bur the planet does not need us.

Act now!

Sofia R., 12ºL

The Ocean offers us a great amount of essential goods.

And what do the Humans offer the Ocean?

I think nothing because lately we have just brought damage to the marine world. And it is so simple to avoid this terrible action - a simple word - RESPECT!

This is a word that includes many actions that could make the Ocean healthy.

If we respect the Ocean, we don't pollute it, we don't overfish, we don't do all the awful things we usually do. So, I ask you to help us make the Ocean a better place:

RESPECT THE OCEAN! Rafaela, Pombal

"It is essential to protect the place that makes us happier" - Joana, Pombal

"There is nothing that calms me more than the breeze on the beach and the immensity of the sea." - Romeu, Pombal

It is a good thing that the ocean is not vindictive, because otherwise we would be ruined, for so much evil that we did and continue to do to it.

We have been polluting the ocean for a long time with plastic bottles, cans, cotton swabs, and so many other objects. And now with this pandemic we have still managed to find another way to pollute it by discarding the masks and gloves into the oceans. In the reality we live today, masks are essential to carry out activities outside, without running so much risk of being infected by the virus.

With the recent use of disposable masks, many of them end up in the oceans, in different ways. So it is not just us humans who are suffering from this coronavirus, animals and ecosystems are also suffering. Animals are also affected by masks and gloves, which the virus forces humans to use. But it is not the virus that discards masks and gloves into the ocean, we are the ones that send them there directly or indirectly.

Eduarda, 14,

Pombal

Let’s all join forces to save and protect marine life!!!

Crete, GREECE

Marilena S.

The planet is at risk more than ever before

Alarming facts:

· 700.000 tons of raw materials are imported to Greece every year for the production of plastics.

· 40.000 tons of plastic waste are discharged into the environment and 70% of them end up in the sea.

A plastic free Archipelago is the dream of every fish!

A plastic free planet would be a planet full of life!

A plastic free planet would be a world that all living creatures deserve!

Let’s all join our forces together to make it happen!!

Let’s be the change we want to see in the world!!!

Stella L.

Crete, GREECE

Stop ocean plastic pollution!

Stop overfishing & polluting the seas!

Remember...Ocean health is our health! Less plastic more fish!

Help by picking up any plastic you see at the beaches! Just a small effort can make a difference!

Crete, GREECE

Katerina P.

Stop using plastic!

Be kind to yourself.

Be kind to others.

Be kind to your planet.

If you want to make a change, start with small steps.

Take care of the sea,

like the sea takes care of you.

Croatia

A small change can make a big difference.

It starts with you.

It takes three weeks

to form a new habit.

Your three weeks is a lifetime for someone else.

Change your habits.

Stop using plastic!

Let's take plastic cups to history!

Croatia

I believe plastic waste in the world's oceans, which then decomposes into microplastics, are one of the greatest dangers of our future. The particles are then absorbed by the living organisms in the oceans and thus enter our food cycle. It also gets into our bodies through drinking water, as the sewage and filter systems cannot filter out such small particles.

This still harbors unknown health risks, as far as I know there is still no real study on plastic in the body. But it certainly cannot be healthy.

Jan from Germany