My attention was drawn to the image of pelicans taking flight from
an old piano stranded on a sandbar. Although the image in itself is
beautiful in a decayed, almost haunting way, it troubled me. There
are so few areas of the planet where one cannot find evidence (in the
form of garbage, ruin, or active habitation) of human action on the
environment. The pelicans (and other animals) are innocent bystanders
as humans continue to literally trash the planet. Science-fiction
solutions to environmental woes like terra forming of other planets
to create spaces suitable for human life depress me – it's like
saying we should abandon this planet so our species can go and ruin
some other place. I think it would be fair and right to send the
pelicans out into the cosmos in order to find a pristine ocean planet
full of delicious fish.
By Meg
Original Image Citation:
(no title) by Suzanne Oberheu Beard
published by National Geographic, August 2011 p18
