To the Editor:

Recently, many animals, especially marine mammals, have appeared sick in the shallows of our local waters and animal welfare organizations are trying to save them. They do not get sick on their own, however. Man has put his hand in again by throwing plastic into the seas and other garbage.

A look at our beautiful beaches is enough. Before the beachgoers arrive there is a clean beach and after 3-4 hours we see a garbage dump. There is a wrong mentality. We take a swim and then leave our garbage because we think it does not concern us and we do not think that we will find that garbage there again and we won’t like the unpleasant scene it creates at the beach. I am just wondering if we would throw rubbish around our own homes or give our pets plastic bags to eat. If we think about it that way, we would probably all be more careful about the way we dispose of plastics and trash.

Markos Kalaitzis

Athens, Greece