CHICAGO (AP) - A new exhibit at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium highlights the growing risks marine debris is posing for ocean and freshwater animals.
The aquarium on Saturday unveiled 10 giant sculptures of sea life made entirely from plastic bottles, straws and other trash that washed up on beaches.
Anglea Haseltine Pozzi is the artist behind the exhibit. She says the project is “meant to be a wake-up call” to show the “devastating” effects plastic is having on aquatic life.
Shedd Aquarium officials say scientists estimate the amount of plastic in the ocean will outweigh fish, pound-for-pound, by 2050.
They say a plastic straw dropped on a Chicago beach can harm fish in the Great Lakes or travel to the Atlantic Ocean and choke a seal or sea turtle.
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