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The world’s oceans hold one of the most little known yet most important ecosystems of the planet. Humans have been exploring its secrets for over a century and still know very little, we my even never understand it completely! That in itself is somehow fascinating and at the same time quite saddening. Some of the rarest and most fragile species have already been lost from the seas and so many others are on the very edge of survival due to our ignorance.
Most people think of the world as what’s around us, air, land and water. What else and how much more do we have to think about than this? Normally not much at all, because there is a system that delivers food to our table, empties garbage, fills the gasoline tank, manufactures our clothes and cleans the streets. So if one chooses to have a life without understanding and learning from the natural world, it is possible. Unfortunately our planet has come to a point where we really have to be more considerate of our actions.
The Underwater world in great danger.
Overfishing and immoral fishing methods, increasing industrial and agricultural emissions, boat traffic and disturbance of sea life in all its forms is going to destroy all that we know about marine biodiversity. It is well known fact, that we are destroying our prerequisite to life with this kind of arrogant and immoral behavior towards our environment.
There are two main reasons; some people don’t care and some people don’t know! Water covers almost 71 percent of our planet. What it really means is that a bit over 29 percent is land and home to almost 7,000,000,000 people. This seven billion people live mostly beside some water source; river, lake, stream, pond, groundwater, rain, tap or water bottle.
All of these are somehow connected and whenever you have something to do with these you interrupt a bigger palette. To understand this huge palette you have to concentrate on the smallest of objects, the very beginning of food chain.
Click here for more on the structure of the sea!
Coastal zones cover only 10 percent of all water on our planet. Surprisingly though, this area
includes 90 percent of all the marine species. This is also where humans are the most active.
Sometimes I wish all this could have been different from the beginning, but we still belong to the food chain. It mutes me, when my mind thinks of the innumerable numbers of endangered species. The statistics are scary and when you look at it there are some very sad facts. For example, over 90 percent of all the large sized fish have been fished away for good! This is very difficult situation for us as many people love to eat fish. Also, the more people talk about eating healthy food and taking care of themselves, the more people eat these already depleated fish stocks. We all need Omega-3 and -6, fatty acids and all those good vitamins, but believe it or not, you can have the same ingredients from flaxseed oil, from some nuts, milk, cheese, some green leafed vegetables and from many other sources as well. So do you really need to have all you fatty acids from fish? No. If you do want to have seafood from time to time, then please spend a little time to make sure that what you are buying is environmentally friendly.
Fragile coral reefs
The only danger to coral reefs is human activity. Simply put coastal and coral mining, pollution, overfishing, fishing with explosives and chemicals such as cyanide, and accessing islands and bays. These are all very serious threats to this vulnerable ecosystem which has over 4,000 species of fish.
Coral reefs also face high dangers from biological diseases and global warming.
Collectors move living fish from coral reefs to aquariums all around the world, and when
one is taken to an aquarium, even if its at home or in a public place, to biodiversity it means that the fish is dead. It is no longer a food source to any other species and it will not breed anymore.
There are 845 coral reef building coral species and almost 50 percent of them are threatened or near threatened. This has brought us to a situation where we have to act fast. Loosing a reef means so many things to the environment and it is impossible to even know all of the consequences. One thing is for sure, in loosing one, it will not come back.
So, How to preserve all this?
The simple answer is that you alone can’t. You as an individual are not the reason for all this, but if we all act together and think about the minor things, like not having a new plastic bottle every time you want to drink, occasionally walking to work, having your own biodegradable bag when shopping and avoiding all products made of wild animals, we really can make a difference. Acting this way could be vital to more than just the endangered species on the planet, it helos the whole environment. We must improve our knowledge by choosing and acting wisely.
When traveling choose an environmentally conscientious and loyal travel organizer. If you want to Scuba Dive, learn to dive properly before entering open water, don’t rush to the water with cameras and fancy suits before really knowing how to be balanced and neutrally buoyant. Always take home and dispose of appropriately all trash that you produce. Don’t flick cigarette butts into the water, fish eat those and die of digestive problems or poison faster than a smoker dies of lung cancer.
Do not be that egoistic that you touch the animals underwater or interrupt their living in anyway. Could you imagine someone interrupting you with a huge hand inside your house or take a shot of you from a short distance with a camera equipped a flash sized of your head?
Coral has it’s own bacteria, and touching it with a bare hand slowly kills it. So do not touch corals, don’t kick sand and don’t scrap anything while diving.
Finally and probably most importantly: Learn how this beautiful underwater world lives!
Text and Photos by OWSI Tuukka Kansa.
