{"id":3352,"title":"Our ocean, our future","description":"If you had travelled the world in 1812 the natural wonders seen on earth would be jaw-dropping. Plains full of grazing animals and attendant predators, huge forests covering much of the land and a sky full of birds. Wildlife in such abundance that it is hard to imagine now","content":"

If you had travelled the world two hundred years ago the natural wonders seen on earth would be jaw-dropping. Plains full of grazing animals and attendant\u00a0predators, huge forests covering much of the land and a sky full of birds. Wildlife in such abundance that it is hard to imagine now.\"\"
Over the next two centuries human encroachment chopped down the forests, ploughed up the plains and hunted the animals to a fraction of their pristine numbers. Some animals thrived under these new conditions, but the vast majority did not.<\/p>

At the beginning of the 20th century, shortly before destruction was absolute, some enlightened people decided to act and national\u00a0parks like Kruger, Yellowstone, and Etosha were formed. Unless we learn from our terrestrial mistakes, what happened on the land can give us an accurate glimpse of what is in store for the world\u2019s ocean.<\/p>

Ultimately we will deplete the ocean through overfishing, leaving only small pockets of\u00a0biodiversity \u2013 effectively the national parks of the sea. Farmed animals will replace wildlife, with\u00a0aquaculture\u00a0cages ringing our coasts and filling the open-ocean in their thousands.\u00a0Wind farms\u00a0and tidal generators will festoon the waters that once teemed with life, whilst new technology and ice-free conditions will open up once inaccessible regions to the mining, energy and shipping industries.<\/p>

It isn\u2019t too late though. We still have an opportunity to do for the ocean what we failed to do for the land \u2013 protect the ecosystem holistically. There is still enough marine life left to repopulate the entire ocean, but the protection must be interconnected. This is where we failed so miserably on land by creating small, isolated nature reserves that are more akin to zoos than places where nature can thrive.<\/p>

If we protect thirty-percent or more of the\u00a0world\u2019s\u00a0ocean from all destructive activity now, with a network of carefully chosen marine reserves, the resultant proliferation of marine life could allow for enough sustainable exploitation to feed a rapidly growing human population.\u00a0But if we act too slowly, or do not do enough, the future ocean may become as devoid of\u00a0biodiversity\u00a0as the vast majority of the land has become.<\/p>

Blue Planet Society\u00a0<\/a>is a self-funded, volunteer pressure group campaigning to end the overexploitation of the world\u2019s ocean. Follow us on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>","urlTitle":"our-ocean-our-future","url":"\/blog\/our-ocean-our-future\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/our-ocean-our-future\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/blueplanetsocietystore.com\/blog\/our-ocean-our-future\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1585664690,"updatedAt":1605111474,"publishedAt":1585838062,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":21385,"name":"Blue Planet Society"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5e85e87aa68072.75114888.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5e85e87aa68072.75114888.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5e85e87aa68072.75114888.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":null,"metaDescription":null,"keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":937,"title":"Fish are wildlife","url":"\/blog\/fish-arent-food-theyre-marine-wildlife\/","urlTitle":"fish-arent-food-theyre-marine-wildlife","division":21385,"description":"Why are marine conservation organisations encouraging people to eat ocean wildlife?","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/mmcraxay7cokux1hpbv1jtl0r993bzsndai4ndljcmj7kkkc.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/mmcraxay7cokux1hpbv1jtl0r993bzsndai4ndljcmj7kkkc.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":4186,"title":"Atlantic bluefin tuna: the forgotten superpredator","url":"\/blog\/atlantic-bluefin-tuna-the-forgotten-superpredator\/","urlTitle":"atlantic-bluefin-tuna-the-forgotten-superpredator","division":21385,"description":"We would expect that a huge, charismatic, and ecologically important predator would be celebrated in its own right. Especially if it is also endangered, has evolved some extreme physiological and behavioural adaptations to enable it to excel as one of the oceans\u2019 top predators; this fish even hunts","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5ead2273288b60.89696013.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5ead2273288b60.89696013.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":4553,"title":"Supertrawler Margiris: \u2018a Death Star in the galaxy\u2019","url":"\/blog\/supertrawler-margiris-a-death-star-in-the-galaxy\/","urlTitle":"supertrawler-margiris-a-death-star-in-the-galaxy","division":21385,"description":"A former crew-member of the supertrawler Margiris spills the beans to Blue Planet Society. The following words were received by us via social media and are unedited.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5ec0e8707d6026.47537058.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5ec0e8707d6026.47537058.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}