Turtle Journey tells the tragic story of a turtle family travelling home through an ocean under growing pressure from climate change, plastic pollution, oil drilling and overfishing. The short animation, which you can watch below, was produced by Aardman – the creators of Wallace & Gromit – and campaigners Greenpeace to highlight the plight of the world’s oceans.
Climate change is already affecting the habitats of sea turtles. Changing ocean currents are damaging the coral reefs some turtles rely on to survive, while rising seas threaten to destroy their beach habitats. Plastic, which has been found in hundreds of marine species, poses another danger. In the film, the adult turtles try to warn their children about the threat, as well they might: young turtles are at higher risk than their elders of swallowing plastic waste.
Characters in the film are voiced by two Oscar-winning actors, Olivia Colman and Helen Mirren, alongside Bella Ramsey from Game of Thrones, David Harbour of Stranger Things, Downton Abbey’s Jim Carter and comedian Ahir Shah. “If we don’t act now we risk causing irreversible harm to our oceans and losing species for good,” said Colman in a statement.
And in a statement from Greenpeace, oceans campaigner Louisa Casson said, “Our oceans are in crisis.” Casson hopes the film will spur action ahead of the 2020 UN Ocean Conference in June. The film ends with a call to action, urging viewers to sign Greenpeace’s petition calling for a global ocean treaty.
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