Planet Ocean Page #6

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There are, at the time,

400 marine areas declared dead,

empty of food sources,

or unable to sustain life.

Other species are rapidly

increasing in number.

Jellyfish have existed for

almost one billion years on Earth.

They have survived all known

extinctions of species.

The red tuna was one of their predators.

The disappearance of this tuna upsets

a millennial-old balance.

Scientists and fishermen find that

across the ocean jellyfish are increasing.

The ocean is a gelatinous mass

and this imbalance

is a trap that awaits us.

Far from land, far away from where we live,

the ocean hides

another fact for us.

The currents spread

our chemicals,

polluters of our industrial creation,

all over the world.

On average, there are more than

46,000 pieces of plastic waste

per square kilometer sea water.

That which kills these birds,

comes out of our houses,

even though we're

thousands of kilometers away.

Annually, we pour six billion pounds

of plastic waste in the sea.

Plastic does not degrade,

but micro-fragments.

What that birds eat, the fish eat,

eventually ends up on our plates

while we dig the ocean to fish,

for our fisheries.

By polluting this world,

we poison ourselves, too.

The ocean is so vast that we thought

that it was an inexhaustible source.

We were wrong.

The ocean planet has actually

a limit to its renewal,

which we should learn to respect.

That's why since the dawn of time,

everything on earth

respects the rhythms and limits.

That is the origin of the famous law

of natural balance.

I would like to stay on earth.

I want to be there tomorrow.

I have long looked for these fish.

I think I'm like them:

I develop myself through

consensus in a group.

Even if I understand what happens to us,

I can not choose

the way things radically change.

But perhaps that our collective consciousness

can trigger a chain reaction...

and save our species.

I want to believe

that we can react in time.

Twenty years ago in Rio,

people came together for a large

conference on the future of the Earth.

That was in 1992.

In that year,

our leaders voted on

2500 recommendations

to protect the planet.

I believed that it was a symbolic beginning

of a new era.

But it was actually

the beginning of a long road...

What has happened since?

There have been other conferences,

other world summits,

ultimately with very little result.

The risk of an unpopular decision,

competition, corruption, passivity

have blocked any action.

But we, humanity,

have in the past 20 years

made an enormous leap forward.

Public awareness has evolved.

We are now concerned about the environment.

But that's not enough.

Time is gaining on us.

With this rate

we are moving towards a catastrophe.

Even in the heart of the city

Rio, overlooking the ocean,

I am forbidden to enter the sea

because of disgusting pollution.

We had a pool built into

the most beautiful bay in the world to swim,

but that has become very dangerous

for our health.

In Rio, we have, as elsewhere in the world,

a giant statue of Christ put up,

a symbol of eternity,

to protect ourselves.

He looks thoughtfully out over the ocean,

but what can he do for us?

No religion or belief

will save us.

It is not a time to believe

in heavenly promises.

Only with our intelligence, we can

foresee the future and prepare.

We can still

change direction.

There is still time for a humanistic

and responsible stewardship,

for our ocean planet to continue.

THERE ARE SOLUTIONS

RESPECT QUOTAS:

STOP FUNDING:

FOR INDUSTRIAL FISHERIES

PERMANENTLY BAN DEEP SEA FISHING

PROMOTE SMALL-SCALE FISHERIES

BUY ONLY THINGS WITH AN ECO LABEL

ENCOURAGE RESPONSIBLE FISHING

POLLUTION MANAGEMEN CONTINUE DEEP SEA EXPLORATION

MAINTAIN THE ANTARCTIC TREATY

MAKE A TREATY:

FOR SPAWNING AREAS

80% OF BIODIVERSITY IN THE SEA

IS STILL UNKNOWN

WE MUST INVEST IN RESEARCH

AND PROTECTING OUR SEAS

GENETIC HERITAGE

PROTECT ALL ECOSYSTEMS

SO MARINE LIFE CAN BE RESTORED

IN 2012 THE PROTECTED AREAS

WAS ONLY 1% OF THE OCEAN

LET'S PROTECT 20% OF THE OCEAN

BY 2020

IT IS TIME FOR AN INTERNATIONAL

STEWARDSHIP TO BEGIN

NOW LET'S AC With our deepest thanks to all those who

already work for the welfare of the ocean.

MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM

RESEARCH INSTITUTE

"TUNA LOOTERS"

THE TARA TEAM:

ALL INTERPRETING BY SIMON YAM

ALL PILOTS:

For more information about the oceans:

goodplanet.org

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