Shelly the Smart Turtle and the Struggling Ocean: A Story About Caring for the Environment
Once upon a time, beneath the shimmering waves of a deep blue ocean teeming with colorful fish lived Shelly, a young sea turtle. Shelly wasn’t like the other turtles. He didn’t spend his days munching on seaweed or napping on sun-dappled sandbars. Shelly loved exploring shipwrecks and collecting shiny trinkets from the ocean floor. But above all, Shelly was known for his determination and good heart.
One day, Shelly decided to visit a beach in the bay further away, where he made his first teeny-tiny turtle steps. As Shelly was approaching his beloved beach, he noticed something strange. The water around him became cloudy and murky. Back then, it sparkled like jewels, and schools of fish shimmered like rainbows. He swam further and noticed the coral reef where he used to play with his friends. Now, it seemed duller, and the playful fish that used to dart between the coral looked sluggish and ill. ‘‘Oh no, this doesn’t look good,’’ Shelly thought to himself.
He kept swimming until he reached the beach. There, Shelly stumbled upon a sight that made him gasp. A beautiful beach, once white and pristine, was now littered with plastic bottles, tangled fishing nets, and discarded candy wrappers.
Shelly’s heart sank. This wasn’t the beach he remembered growing up at, digging holes in the warm sand and watching playful crabs scuttle across the shore.
Just then, a wise old hermit crab who was passing by heard Shelly’s gasp and poked his head out of his home. ‘‘What troubles you, my friend?’’ he rumbled.
Shelly pointed a flipper towards the mess. ‘‘The beach! Why is it so dirty?”
The hermit crab sighed. ‘‘Ah, that’s the work of careless humans who don’t clean up after themselves. They forget this is our home, so they throw away their trash carelessly.’’
Shelly’s eyes widened. He had never thought that people could be so insensitive to their environment. After all, planet Earth is our only planet, and it’s home to all creatures, animals and humans alike. Nobody wants to see it dirty.
‘‘And what about the reef and the fish around it? It looks like they’re in trouble!’’
Shelly noted. The hermit crab explained how plastic floating on the water was blocking the sunlight and preventing the coral from thriving. It slowly started dying off. This, in turn, affected the fish who relied on the reef for food and shelter.
Shelly knew this was wrong. He couldn’t bear to watch his fish friends struggling in a place they called home. A spark of determination ignited in his heart. The trash needed to be removed, and Shelly was just the right turtle for this project!
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Plastic is one of the materials used to make things. Look at the things around you. Can you name five different items and different materials
they’re made of (for example, name one thing made out of plastic, paper, glass, fabric, metal, wood, concrete)? Which materials are recyclable, and
which ones are not? (This is an educative question that prompts readers to notice different materials in their surroundings and consider their recycling
potential.)