Ecology

Our oceans have been destroyed. We have over fished, spilled oil, tossed out trash, and otherwise taken these beautiful homes and turned them into sewage. The BP oil spill is mostly contained, but we will be cleaning up after it for years. China is doing a better job at fixing their spill. Remember Exxon Valdeez? Are we done with the repercussions of that spill?

What about fishing? We have fished whales to near extinction, because we wanted their blubber for oil. Many sharks are endangered because we want to eat them. Killing off these killers has allowed smaller species to thrive and kill off others. The ecosystem is changing and plummeting. Yet we keep drilling for oil and we keep eating all the fish.

There is not much more that the oceans can take. If we leave them alone, mother nature will fix out mistakes, but it will take thousands of years, if not more. What can we do? We can slow out consumption of fish, favoring farm raised (albeit not as good) fish. We can cut down on out oil consumption, or eliminate it all together. More importantly, we can fight to pass laws that will protect the few remaining sanctuaries for what species we have not already damaged.

On such area is the Ross Sea. Dubbed The Last Ocean, the Ross Sea is adjacent to Antarctica and was not even discovered until 1841. The intense cold and ice flows make getting to the area difficult. International treaties have stopped any oil drilling in the area, but fisheries are now fishing the Antarctic Toothless, better known as the Chilean Sea Bass. Despite making very little to no profit on these giant fish, the fisheries are still hunting them and bringing in boatloads in a short time. Are the fisheries going to ruin the last remaining ocean, or are we going to step forward and protect them?