Divers, Protect our Seas.
As divers and lovers of the ocean, we need to understand and protect this now fragile environment. We are the few who actually visit and see what is going on below the water. For those of you who have been diving many years, you will have seen the degradation of marine life and habitat first hand. For those newer to diving take stock of what we have and help to protect it.
There are many factors contributing to the demise of the world’s oceans. Pollution, climate change and over-fishing are the three most obvious. Globally, these issues are slowly being addressed but over-fishing is still knocking on the back door of reason. We still continue to support factory industrial fishing by buying their products. As I see fish stocks diminishing every year I know we have passed the point where sustainable commercial fishing is a viable option. We keep species on the brink of commercial extinction and are then alarmed when they crash. We are changing the very nature of our oceans, and not for the better.
I was recently on a UK off-island enjoying the peace and relative isolation from modern day trappings. As I sat on a quiet beach, I saw a seal rise out of the water just a few hundred meters from the shore. It stayed on the surface for about thirty seconds and then sank out of site. Lovely. Then to my surprise it surfaced after a few minutes in exactly the same spot. This happened a few more times before I realised with absolute sadness that the seal was trapped by something and was fighting to the surface for air before being dragged back down. What could I do…….Nothing…. It was very cold and I had no wet suit to swim out and try to help. But even if I did the danger and risk of being caught myself was high as well as the possibility of being bitten by the panicking seal. I tried to phone a few local people to ask if anyone with a boat could help. But there was no signal and I knew in my heart that there were no boats anywhere near. I ran to the top of the hill and tried to call again. My fears were confirmed. There was no one who could help.
I went back down to the water and could only watch as the seal continued to fight for its life, surfacing every few minutes and taking deep breaths before being pulled under by what ever it was. On the beach next to me was part of a washed up fishing net. This was more than likely the kind of thing trapping the seal. I watched for half an hour. Caught up in my emotions and helplessness. I desperately wanted the seal to break free but I knew that was not going to happen. After another hour I wished the seal not to come up again so that its suffering was at an end. But it kept fighting. I stayed there until it started getting dark. In some stupid way I felt I should keep it company. To say you are not alone and will be remembered.
The tide was rising, making the seal’s struggle to the surface harder with every passing minute. I had to leave. I didn’t go back to see if it fought throughout the night, although I have know seals and other marine mammals have done that. In the end the seal would have finally drowned and is now resting on the sea bed, bloated and entangled. If I had not seen this happening no one would have ever known. How much more is there happening out of sight that we just don’t witness.
As I was writing this I was introduced to Ocean Rebellion who have just produced a short film shot in Cornwall on netting and trawling. It is a stark film called ‘No More Fish In The Sea’ and can be seen on YouTube. It shows a Mermaid trapped and drowning in a net. You may think this over the top, but the horrors of drowning, in any circumstance, are the same for all air breathing animals, whales, dolphins, seals, sea birds, otters and many others and must not be ignored just because most victims are not human. If you can, watch the video and think hard about what it is saying.
‘No More Fish In The Sea’
The introduction to the video says:
Due to industrial fishing practices there is now no such thing as sustainable fishing. If we transform our fishing practices this could change. We need to end the wholesale destruction of the ocean through factory fishing on an industrial scale.
Ocean rebellion is calling for an end to industrial fishing practices and an end to bottom trawling now.
Bottom trawling is a devastating form of fishing that wreaks havoc on the sea bed, ripping up swathes of precious marine habitats and killing vast amounts of sea life. For every bottom trawled fish on your plate up to 16 other fish will have been caught and killed.
Living oceans mean a living planet and a living humankind. But humans are killing the oceans. When they die, we die. Their future hangs in the balance – and with them the future of humans and all life on Earth. Ocean Rebellion will help turn the tide.
Bottom trawling is killing us all.
Oceanic wildlife has a wonderful ability to recover if we leave it alone.
OCEAN REBELLION
Because the sea is rising we will rise
Because the coral is fading we will fight
As the seas are mined we will mobilise
While the oceans are plundered we will protest
Lifeguards wanted
Join us.
