Not Only People

So, it's not always people that community service (or out-of-community service) helps. One very important thing that it means is animals.

Animals are a very big part of our society, and to the ecosystem in general. But, now a lot of their populations are dwindling. A lot of this has to do with things that us humans inflict on them. Such as trashing oceans, cutting down rainforests and poaching of endangered animals. Many of this I have seen recently in the Galapagos islands.

For anyone who doesn't know, the Galapagos islands are a group of islands off the coast of South America. They have beautiful landscape, but the most amazing thing about them is the wildlife. From sea lions to beautiful birds, fish, tortoises and sharks, these islands have such a variety of wildlife that enjoy the place that they live. But, since many tourists have come to the islands, many populations of these animals have dwindled. It is a national park, and it was an idea that tourists should be completely eliminated from the island. Why is this? Because, tourism has added to the decline of population for many of these species.

When walking off the dock from our boat, I noticed some trash in the water, and wondered exactly how someone could throw trash into such beautiful water, with adorable sea lions and iguanas happily swimming around. I know I could never bring myself to do something like that. Especially when there's a trash can not far away at all. I think this is why people are looking to shut down tourism. What happens of some sea lions get curious and decide to eat it, or if the iguanas get caught in it? What happens then?

The next time you litter, or throw garbage into the ocean, or if you have some sort of chemical that you don't want, and you're right next to water, think about how that will affect the wildlife in that water. Or, if you see someone else do that, tell them about what you know. About how that will affect the creatures in the ocean. Or just the ocean itself.