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Scarier Than Fiction: This Halloween, the Real Monsters Are in Our Oceans

19 hours ago
3 min read

Every October, plenty of otherwise sensible adults pay good money to be scared. We hang fake cobwebs on the porch, let masked teenagers chase us through corn mazes, and line up for yet another sequel about a villain who should have stayed dead years ago. We love a good fright, as long as it isn't real.


The trouble is that this year's most persuasive horror story isn't playing at the multiplex. It is unfolding, with a kind of patient indifference, out in the open ocean, in water measurably warmer than it was when our parents were children. Scientists, who are not celebrated for their flair with titles, have named it the triple planetary crisis: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. The phrase sounds as though a committee wrote it, which, in a sense, one did. Beneath the bureaucratic packaging, though, lies a plot any screenwriter would envy: three monsters, each feeding the others. And unlike most horror films, this one's ending has not yet been written. What follows is an introduction to the cast, along with a few modest suggestions for how the rest of us might rewrite the third act.


Monster #1: The ghost that won't leave (climate change)

Some ghosts haunt houses. This one haunts the whole planet. The carbon we release today sticks around in the atmosphere for a very long time, trapping heat and warming the planet.

The ocean feels it first. Warmer water fuels stronger storms, stresses coral reefs, and pushes fish toward cooler waters, which hits the fishing communities that depend on them.

Your treat: Ditch the car for one trip this week. Walk it, bike it, or hop on the bus. Small swaps, repeated by millions of people, add up fast.


Monster #2: Ghost species (biodiversity loss)

What if ghosts were real, and they used to be animals? Around 1 million plant and animal species are threatened with extinction. Once a species is gone, it's gone for good. No sequel. No comeback.

In the ocean, sea turtles, seabirds, and marine mammals face a long list of threats, from habitat loss to warming water to waste that ends up where it doesn't belong. Better collection and recycling keeps it out of their way. On land, pollinators like bees are in trouble too, and so are the crops that depend on them.

Your treat: Let a corner of your yard go wild, or plant native flowers to feed the bees. At the beach, leave shells, rocks, and wildlife where you found them.


Monster #3: The zombie that never dies (marine litter)

Toss it in nature and it never really leaves. Waste that slips past collection systems travels down rivers and into the sea, where it keeps coming back to haunt beaches, fishing nets, and wildlife.

But this monster has a weakness. Waste in the right place isn't trash, it's a resource. That's the idea behind everything we do at Waste Free Oceans. We don't believe in the blame game; we focus on what can be done (WFO).

  • We team up with fishermen. Fishing boats fitted with a special trawl collect 2 to 8 tonnes of floating litter for cleaning and recycling, and fishermen can be paid for their efforts.

  • We give waste a second life. With recyclers and brand partners, we turn collected marine litter into new products.

  • We bring people together. We connect policymakers, industry, and passionate individuals to keep our oceans clean.

Your treat: Bin it, sort it, recycle it. Give your Halloween candy wrappers a proper afterlife.


Your Halloween treat list


Scared? Good. Now let's do something about it. Pick one, or go for all three:

Checklist



Swap one car trip for walking, biking, or bus/metro


Plant native flower or let a corner of you yard go wild


Bin, sort, and recycle your Halloween costume and decoration!


Join a beach, river, late cleanup near you!


The real monsters are only scary if we do nothing. Follow us on Instagram for the #ScarierThanFiction series, and share this post with someone who's heading out trick-or-treating tonight.


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