Keep the Sea Free of Debris

Keep the Sea Free of Debris

Araminta “Minty” Little

When it comes to polluting our oceans, every litter bit counts. That’s the message of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its efforts to solve the problem of marine debris.

Each year, the NOAA Marine Debris Program asks students across the nation to submit original artwork showing the impacts of marine debris on our ocean environment. More than 600 students in kindergarten through eighth grade entered the 2013 “Keep the Sea Free of Debris” art contest. The 13 winning pieces appear in the 2014 Marine Debris Calendar.

One of these featured artists is Araminta “Minty” Little, a seventh grade student at Fairview Junior High (Silverdale, Washington).

“The picture I drew depicts a sea creature surrounded by garbage,” wrote Minty. “The octopus … is wrapping its tentacles around stray trash preparing to throw it all back onto land. In the top right tentacle is a sign reading ‘S.O.S.’ in parody to … an old sailing term.”

In addition to submitting their artwork, students answered two simple questions: How does marine debris impact you? What are you doing about it? In choosing the winning entries, judges considered creativity, artistic presentation, relevance to the theme, and how thoroughly students answered the two questions.

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