Just Keep Swimming

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/16/talia-joy-castellano-dead_n_3606118.html

Putting yourself out there is not an easy thing. It takes courage to do so because there is a good chance that you will get hate mail. This obviously did not stop Talia Joy Castellano. 

I remember first seeing this girl on YouTube and thinking that she really was amazing for putting aside cancer and doing what she really loves to do. It really just struck me that such a young girl could inspire so many people with just her YouTube videos. 

Although this terrible disease had taken her life, it has inspired so many other people worldwide to follow their dreams because regardless of their situation, anything is possible. Sometimes we get so caught up with the chaos in our lives that we don’t have time to stop and be thankful for what we have. As teenagers we constantly complain about how our lives suck and how we wish we could be a completely different person, and although Talia may have done so herself, instead of moping around about what she didn’t have, she did the best with what she did have.

She may not have been a Martin Luther King Jr., but with her charismatic personality, she captured the hearts of so many and will be treasured for her inspirational works. 

With people such as Kim Kardashian who are constantly getting publicized, I’m glad that she received recognition for what she had done because unlike the Kardashians, she has done something truly great for teen girls and even cancer-stricken adults all around the world. 

Sea Salt, Ocean Breeze and Algae?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/06/world/asia/huge-algae-bloom-afflicts-qingdao-china.html?_r=0

With summer slowly coming to a close, we try to make the most of what is left of our vacation by spending time with friends and family with barbecues and bonfires by the beach. Being residents of California, we have the luxury of driving a few miles to get to our local beach. Though California's beaches may not be the best, beaches such as those in coastal Chinese city of Qingdao, are a sure contender.

Recently they had been struck by the “near-record algae bloom that has left its popular beaches fouled with a green, stringy muck”. Although the article states that it this ‘mat of sea lettuce’ is harmless to humans, it seems very dangerous for the environment. 

Although global warming seems like a huge environment issue, people fail to recognize other problems that are equally affecting our planet. 

My opinion may sound a little biast as I am a worker of the Aquarium of the Pacific, but the fact that people are taking this toxic lettuce so lightly really bothers me. Either the media fails to inform them, or they fail to educate themselves about the dangers of this algae. The fact that “abalone, clam and sea cucumber farms suffered more than $100 million in damage” is terrifying. The population of the these animals will only keep deteriorating.

The article states that the algae later begins to smell like rotten eggs, so I’m sure that that will make people more aware of the cons of the algae. My hope for this situation is that people will keep this situation in mind when they think about how our planet will be 20 years from now.