I have decided to review a documentary called “Blue Planet II: Big Blue.” This documentary is available for anyone to watch on Netflix and is in my opinion, one of the best documentaries for younger people who want to get a better idea of what is in and what is happening with our oceans. This documentary shows a plethora of species and their special behavioral patterns that may not be known that they do to the regular everyday human. These patterns shown show spectacular brilliance in certain species that could be lost if we do not help prevent the continuous poisoning of our oceans through waste and pollution.

This documentary includes the behavior patterns of dolphins and also their intelligence in thorough detail. It shows how the porpoises use anemones and other plants as a personal way of protecting themselves from infection with the special antibodies in the anemones. It also shows many other animals and how they survive through their special patterns of migration and ways of predation that are very fascinating. The documentary shows how orcas temporarily stun groups of fish by their violent tail flaps that stun the fish long enough for them to be eaten without trouble. It also does not only focus on the animals in the ocean, it also shows coastal birds like the wandering albatross. These birds are the largest of any living bird of the present day, and because of the overfishing of seas, the albatross has to work much harder than before to find food for themselves and for their offspring so that they can continue to be a species on this planet. They may spend up to a year continuously looking food for themselves and also ingest plastics which are poisons to their diets. This is a continuous problem and will continue to be a problem if we do not step up as humans to fix our planet.

The filmmakers who produced this documentary are definitely trying to push a conservationist agenda to the audience, and doing so in a way that shows the beauty of our earth and why we should work harder to fix these issues. Possible biases in this documentary could be that the filmmakers did not show any positives that are going on in our economic world today, and focused primarily on making the film about how we have not been doing our jobs recently and how we can improve our earthly situation, rather than show positive ways that we have already been working on bettering our world. All in all, I very much enjoyed this documentary and it was displayed in a way that was more fascinating rather than a bore to watch, and I believe that this documentary could be shown to many other audiences that would say the same thing. This film made me think much harder about conservation, and also made me think much more deeply about just how fascinating our earth really is, and why we should work much harder to sustain it and have this beauty be able to be seen by future generations.

Personal change is something that is sometimes necessary for the everyday human being; whether it be eating healthier, exercising more, or just trying to get rid of bad habits, it is necessary for those who want to change their current way of living. My personal change goal was to stop depending on eating so much meat that was not produced locally. When we did the ecological footprint assignment that told you how many Earths would be needed to sustain our planet if everyone lived like me, I was astonished. If everyone lived the way I had, then we would need 5.3 Earths to sustain us. To me, that was a shock, and something that made me feel uncomfortable. The change that I decided to bring to my life, not only for my own benefit, but for the earth’s, was to consume less processed and shipped in meat. This change from me, if done by many, could make the world a much better place. Meat that isn’t local has to go through many processes to get to our stomachs, including excess plastic usage during packaging, and the fossil fuels needed for the transportation of it, as well as the sheer amount I (as long as many others) were consuming, made for a higher demand for processed goods in the local area. When I changed this aspect of my everyday life, I decided to take the ecological footprint test again, and I was now using 3.8 earths instead of 5.3. This still is not the best, but is definitely a major step for me towards sustainability. In my efforts to reduce my ecological footprint, I started buying more local grown and raised foods for the past week. This past week has been a triumph for me, as I like a better human being as well as feeling much healthier by eating more plant based products and less processed foods. I have been more energized and have felt an overall shift in my actions. During my journey towards ecological benefit, I have since noticed a change in my behaviors as well, like going outside and getting more exercise rather than staying in and playing video games, and have been a more overall positive person towards my peers and have been more invested in my classes. I have noticed that I have also been spending less money by cooking most of my foods rather than buying fast food and other expensive products from the grocery stores. This is a change that I definitely will stick with, not only for my own good, but the Earth’s good as well.One challenge I have encountered was the time it takes to cook and prepare my foods, but has not been that much of a shift, and has been a better use of my time rather than the past activities I was engaging in. My advice to others who would also like to embark on a personal goal of ecological sustainability and living a healthier life is to stick with it! Even though it may seem tough, it is for the benefit of everyone, and mainly yourself! By reducing the amount of processed foods, you are not only making a better and more healthy life for yourself, but you are also helping the future generations to be able to experience the beauty of the Earth, which we would most likely not have if everyone continued to live like I once did.