Ocean Ecology

We, human, live on land. However, land is only about one third of the whole world surface area. The rest is water. There are more creature living on this world beside terrestrial ones. There is a part of the world that human do not fully understand. That part is marine ecosystem. 

Marine ecosystem include oceans,  salt marshes, intertidal zones, estuaries, lagoons, mangroves, coral reefs, the deep sea, and the sea floor. Discovered only 5% with human technology, marine ecosystem is the home of many known and unknown creatures, including plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria. It's "estimated" that there is about 1 million species. Oceans, like any water bodies, contribute greatly to climate change.

Humans get a lot of benefits from marine ecosystem, especially seas and oceans. The first and most obvious things are fish. Fisheries today provide about 16% of world's human dietary protein source. The second one is shipping and transporting. The third one is tourism. (Source: MarineBio) Together, all these things lead to economic development, with jobs, sales, salaries, etc. 

With that being said, humans, as always, are not every appreciative. We are destroying the marine ecosystem. We over-fish, not allowing resources to replenish. As fishing technology develops with nets and electricity, we are more destructive. 20,000 porpoises die in the nets of salmon fishermen in Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. (Source: YPTE). We pollute the water with oils and wastes. These poisons will contaminate the water and harm the marine organisms. There is also acid acidification created by carbon dioxide, which weakens shells of marine creature. 

This situation needs to be stopped. Here are what "some" people are trying to do: The Marine Conservation Institute tries to increase protected marine areas, some people try to encourage to stop using nets, some other try to clean up the oil mess with these methods, etc. Here are what you can do:
- Join and Support Organizations (Ex: WWF).
- Choose sustainable seafood (Here is a tool - Seafood Watch).
Respect the ocean!