On October 12, 2019, South Broward High School’s Coral Club showcased an experiment at the City of Hollywood Marina. Members Barbara Jacobovitz, Ilana Szarf, Arielle Adelman, Sophia, and Jacob Laroque helped teach children and adults about the importance that shells have to the ocean. An experiment with the usage of boiled cabbage water, baking soda, and vinegar displays why removing shells from the ocean leads to more acidification within it.

The experiment begins by pouring pink cabbage water into a mason jar to demonstrate what a healthy ocean looks like. Then, club members will pour vinegar into the liquid to turn it blue and show effects of acidification and removal of shells. Lastly, baking soda is stirred into the mixture to turn it back to the color pink and show what would happen to the ocean of everyone threw their shells back into the ocean. The experiment was a way for individuals to understand how big of an impact shells have on the ocean.

Many people will go to the beach and take one or two shells out of the water, it may not seem like it makes a difference, but when a million people are doing this every day, it can have a swift and major effect. Many people did not know this when presented with the information at the event. That’s why Coral Club can make such a huge difference in the Earth’s well-being. Helping an individual correct their way of habit may not seem like a huge impact, but just like the shells, it can have a swift and major influence on society.

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Barbara Jacobovitz asks a little girl if she collects shells at the beach. Jacobovitz used this question to segueway in to why you should not do this. Photograph by Alexis McMurray.