Washed Ashore is an art installation and community project at the Marine Mammal Center at the Marin Headlands. Every piece is made out of junk – plastic mostly – that washed ashore Oregon beaches and then were cleaned, sorted and put together into things symbolizing what plastic is doing to the ocean.

The fish is the most famous piece and it’s the one on the publicity posters, but there are lots more as you step into the center.

There’s the turtle made of fishnets found washed up on the beaches.

And there’s a sea lion, some jellyfish, whale bones, and masks.
All of it a reminder of all of the waste we create and throw away, and so much of it plastic!

It’s a sobering thing to think about how long it took to make fossil fuels, and how quickly we currently are using it up.

I don’t know what to do about the big plastic gyre in the Pacific, but I’ll definitely be trying to reduce my use of disposable plastic.