Speaking out for the sea creatures

CATHARINE COOPER

Politically, I’m aligning myself with the dolphins and the whales.

They need me a great deal more than any of the political parties. In

fact, they need me because of the political parties, because they are

unable to speak -- at least in a language that we can understand --

for themselves. And the right, left and middle are too engaged in a

battle for supremacy to currently notice what’s just below the

water’s edge.

It isn’t just the dolphins and the whales who need my voice.

Rather, it is the entire marine ecosystem, which, if you haven’t

noticed, is in serious trouble. Those of us who live along the

southern shores of California are more aware than most, at least of

the affects of urban runoff and the havoc it wreaks with our local

beaches. Bacterial and fecal counts have rendered our waters unsafe

for swimming on numerous occasions. “Don’t go near the water” is a

tragic statement on a sunny day with great surf.

Beyond our precious coastline, the deterioration of the marine

ecosystem continues to escalate. The recently released Pew Oceans

Commission report reveals broad and widespread issues. But the most

disturbing is that the primary impedi-

ment to ocean conser-

vation is a broad lack of public awareness of the importance of

the oceans by Americans, opinion leaders and policy makers.

The world is a complicated place to live, with constantly

expanding needs all vying for attention. War, famine and disease --

those items that seem to directly affect the health of the human

population -- grab the bulk of media attention and political

currency. The oceans appear vast and able to fend for themselves.

This is simply not the case.

The majority of water pollutants are invisible, and the toxins

that appear in the food chain are consumed without visual clues.

Trawler dragging destroys coral and seabeds. Urban runoff chokes

habitats and creates dead zones. Commercial fisheries run unchecked.

We view our oceans as beautiful, and they are, but each and every

day, another human action takes an unprecedented toll on a dwindling

resource.

The Pew Oceans Commission is an 18-member, independent, bipartisan

panel comprised of a broad spectrum of citizens, government officials

and those whose livelihood is dependent upon the seas. They spent

three years in a study of the awareness of ocean issues across the

country, soliciting concerns and knowledge in such varied locales as

Hawaii, Alaska, Maine, South Carolina, New York, Louisiana and even

Iowa. Their 2004 report lists major threats to our oceans: “point”

and “nonpoint” pollution, invasive species, aquaculture, coastal

development, overfishing, habitat alteration and climate change.

How do we measure something like overfishing? One term used in an

analysis is “shifting baselines,” coined by fisheries biologist

Daniel Pauly in 1995. Shifting baselines affect the quality-of-life

decisions we face daily. They are chronic, slow, hard-to-notice

changes in things, like the disappearance of birds and frogs in the

countryside, the loss of local abalone in the waters, or the increase

in drive time from San Diego to Los Angeles. If your weight used to

be 150 and now it’s 160, your baseline (as well as your body shape),

has shifted.

Among environmentalists, a baseline is an important reference

point for measuring the health of the ecosystem. It provides

information against which to measure change. In an ideal world, the

baseline for any given habitat would be what was there before humans

had much impact.

Can we determine baselines before they shift again? Measuring the

temperature of the earth’s surface and the ocean’s waters, and

measuring the composition of the atmosphere can provide us with

scientific data that will aid in making decisions to deter global

warming. Understanding the significance of a measured loss of fish

habitat and fertility should aid in policy making and legislation.

We stand on a brink of rather daunting marine disasters, and they

are not blatantly apparent, except to those involved in their

research and analysis. A cadre of foundations, including Surfrider,

the Ocean Conservancy and Scripps Institute of Oceanography, are

mounting major media campaigns to call attention to the overall

decline of ocean health. The campaigns should increase our awareness,

but it is action and commitment that are needed.

Since those whales and dolphins seem to struggle for our ear, it’s

up to us to be loudly vocal on their behalf. They cannot stop us from

dumping toxins or poisons, from overfishing or overbuilding, or from

messing with the climate that affects their existence. It is up to us

to take these issues to our politicians, whatever their party

leanings, because in this democracy, it’s the noisy parts that get

attention. So speak up. Take a stand. Make a whale proud.

* CATHARINE COOPER loves wild places (and is currently in the

midst of the Arctic Wildlife Refuge paddling up the Kungakut River).

She can be reached at [email protected].