A temporary exhibit called Bottled Ocean has been created in Edinburgh by the Maori artist, George Nuku, using recycled plastic bottles.  He imagined the sea 100 years in the future when the ice caps have melted and the planet is flooded with plastic permeating life on the Earth. With the help of 400 volunteers he made an ocean and a Waka canoe from single use plastic bottles with bottles representing the water and waves.  Fish, creatures and seaweed are made from different shapes and colours of bottles.  It was difficult to get good photos of the life in the “sea” so I have included some of the creatures which were suspended above.  They are Manta ray, Sea turtle, Jelly fish, fish and two Hammerhead sharks.
It is part of the Rising Tide exhibition in the museum in Edinburgh that illustrates how people living in Oceania have been trying to adapt to change.   With rising sea levels the people of islands and countries in the Pacific are very aware of the problems facing their livelihoods. They have found innovative ways to use discarded plastics in the sea to make useful things like belts, bags and shoes. Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands produce less than 1% of the world’s plastic yet the Pacific contains about 70% of all plastic in the world’s oceans.
“The ocean holds all mankind together, we are all connected by it and we must look after it.”  Florence Gutchen