On the fallow land edging out to the sea in Beypore beach in Kozhikode, Kerala, lays the World’s first Marine Cemetery built out of plastic bottles. The nine grave stones built from single use plastic are dedicated to eight endangered marine species.
The cemetery came up on World Wildlife Conservation Day on the beach and has been built by Jellyfish Watersports. They have the support of Clean Beach Mission, Kozhikode District Administration and the Beypore Port department. The cemetery, as said by the jellyfish Watersports, would help in creating awareness about the dangers of the use of single use plastics, over fishing and pollution.
The largest tomb on the beach measures 6 feet X 4 feet that is erected in memory of ‘Miss Kerala’, which is almost an endangered freshwater fish. This beautiful fish was found abundantly in Chaliyar River. The other graves measure 4 feet X 3 feet.
Besides the one for Miss Kerala, the other have been placed in memory of Seahorse, Parrotfish, Leatherback turtles, Eagle Rays, Sawfish, Dugong, Zebra shark and Hammerhead shark.
Kozhikode District Collector S Sambasiva Rao was quoted as saying that the Marine Cemetery would remind all about the destruction that has been caused to the earth. He said that the mission was not only to create awareness about the dangers of using plastics but also aimed at cleaning the Kozhikode beaches.
The Clean Beach in Kozhikode is cleanliness drive of the district administration. Jellyfish Watersports Founder Kaushiq Kodithodi was also quoted in the media as saying that human beings were digging graves for these marine species. He also said that the rapid use of single use plastics was pushing marine life into extinction. This is only a reminder to make the people realise how they are killing marine life.
