#pfii

Oil Reef

This mold was made through making a negative impression of a limestone wall with red clay then using wax as a plaster. The clay that’s stuck and staining the otherwise beautiful impression is a comment on environmental pollution. A look and feel similar to oil spills in marine ecosystems that make the affected area uninhabitable and can ruin food chains, effecting us in a capacity previously unseen in human history. Even through our efforts, removing or reducing the pollutants (or in this case, the clay) is tedious and exhausting, but it’s for preserving the health and beauty of what keeps us alive. “Recent research, not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal, has revealed that only about 20 percent of pregnancies among the dolphins in Louisiana’s heavily oiled Barataria Bay are successful, compared with 83 percent in unoiled regions. This number remains unchanged from 2015 findings.

Ten years out, Smith is also seeing higher rates of reproductive failure, lung disease, heart issues, impaired stress response, and death in bottlenose dolphins.