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The Balloon Journey by Roy Wright. Balloons blown up bring happiness, smiles, and joy to people around. Balloons are used for special events and celebrations like birthdays and graduations. There have been special events where large number of balloons were released into the environment like at Disneyland’s 30th Anniversary on December 5, 1985 in California, 1 million balloons were released to celebrate setting a Guinness book world record beating Japan’s 384,000 balloon release the year before. Great planning went into preparing for the massive balloon with thousands of volunteers to blow up the balloons, but what wasn’t planned out was who would clean up one million deflated balloons? On September 27, 1986, the United Way of Cleveland in Ohio set a world record by releasing about 1.5 million balloons. They had huge crowds blowing up balloons for days. There were going to be 2 million balloons; however, they were released earlier than plan due to that day there was a rainstorm fast approaching. You might think that the balloons would stay in the air until fully deflating, but that isn’t what happened. After released the balloons collided with a front of cool air and rain that pushed them back down to earth. The balloons caused problems for drivers and a nearby airport that day; the balloons spooked animals on Louise Nowakowsi’s pastures and she had horses that endured permanent injuries due to an accident that wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for the balloons scaring it, so she sued United Way for $100,000 for damages. The balloons also impeded the search and rescue efforts to find two fisherman that vanished that day at sea, the Coast Guard crews said there were so many balloons scattered that rescuers couldn’t distinguish between a balloon or a person in the ocean, so the two missing people weren’t found. The bodies of the men washed ashore days later, so one of the men’s wives sued United Way for their balloon event that made it more impossible to find someone because of all of the balloon debris. Balloons might stop a child from crying and make the smile, but the happiness balloons bring are short lived because balloons pop or deflate. Then popped or deflated balloons become a risk for animals. Animals that have eaten balloons are 32 more times likely to die than those that have only eaten hard plastics. The reason why balloons and soft plastics are so deadly is because they are able to squeeze into the stomach cavities. A hard plastic is the wrong shape and size to block a region in an animal’s gut while a small soft deflated plastic balloon or balloon fragments can contort and get stuck. Scientist have found from dissecting animals that balloon stuck in the gut and blocking other items from getting in has been the cause of death in seabirds and marine animals. Researchers on board CSIRO's RV Investigator in 2018 came across a bunch of party balloon in the middle of the ocean. Balloons ending up in the ocean continues to be a problem today.Therefore, balloons need to be banned because dolphins, whales, seabirds, fish and turtles have died from balloons. They are harmful for animals to eat and they are also harmful because marine life can get tangled or even strangled by a balloon string. I suggest letters need to be written to the local government to inform that balloons are a major problem for our environment and animals, so they should be banned. Letters should be written to schools and special event holders to not give out balloons, so these balloons will not end up floating in our rivers and into our oceans. Letters should be written to local, state, and national governments across the U.S. requesting balloons be banned. The next time you see a balloon think about the two fisherman who couldn’t be found because of balloons, think of the horses spooked by balloons, and think of all the animals who have gotten entangled, strangled, or died because of balloons. Therefore a balloon ban is needed. We need to all say no to balloons!