From our last meeting as a group, we all decided that our idea is good and there is a clear way to connect them through a domino effect where one thing within climate change is going to then create a fall on effect on another thing. E.g. the melting of icecaps is meaning that our oceans are warming and also changing the pH levels in the sea which is making some conditions hard for many ocean ecologies to continue living, killing off these and then wiping out food sources for other ecosystems that would thrive to die off too. This is creating a ripple effect on the world; A Domino effect.
As a group, we realised that a lot of our main ideas of climate change all somehow link to water, with water having a big role in the main climate factors. This made us decide to carry out group research on the same topic of human effects on ocean life, creating climate change, by all watching the Netflix originals documentary ‘Seaspiracy’. Seaspiracy is a documentary set out to see the harms that humans are doing to marine species and the changes this is making to the environment and economy.
Once watching Seaspiracy I feel very overwhelmed by the information I got as it wasn’t what I was expecting. In today’s society, we have been taught that plastic and rubbish is one of the main factors harming our oceans and causing the deaths of lots of the ecology of the oceans, however, this has almost been a mask hiding us from the truth of the largest contributor to the oceans being destroyed; The Fishing industry. See, we always see many news articles about how whales and sea life is being washed up on our beaches with rubbish in their stomachs which is terrible to be seen but you don’t see how many of these whales are being killed which is more than triple the amount. The fact that the reason people are killing the whales (and dolphins) is as there eating too much fish… Make that make sense. They need that fish to survive but also regulate the ocean’s ecosystems. Whales and dolphins help to keep the carbon levels in the ocean at a low level and we need this to lower the earth’s temperature and stop global warming to make sure the levels aren’t increasing. As much as killing whales and dolphins there is also the killing of sharks for their fins. We need these predators in our oceans as them being taken away causes overpopulation of other species as the sharks aren’t there to eat the sick and ill fish. These ill fish are then expanding and eating off their whole food source. This then means they have no food left killing them off and the process keeps on repeating till our oceans are completely empty.
As much as this is terrible, Fishing for fish is also such a massive factor in all this. Catching fish is done in many ways and these ways can destroy the seabed’s causing the destruction of lots of fish’s homes, and with only 1% of the ocean being protected, it is so hard to make people stop. Finding out that Subsidies the fishing industry is at about $35 billion which is the same amount we would need to combat world hunger. That is HUGE! How haven’t we noticed this sooner and make changes to this, or are governments just ignoring it?
Another big thing I learnt from the documentary was about sustainability in the fishing industry and how it isn’t what you would think it is. When it comes to sustainability you start to think of it as the fish being treated correctly and the way of killing to not be as rigid as large companies. However, this isn’t the case at all. When it comes to fishing, I’ve learnt that no matter what it’s always going to be the same as even the ‘sustainable ways’ of having farms is not pleasant for the fish and they are not being looked after. The idea of sustainability is a way to appeal to fish eater and the people thinking they are doing a good thing buying this, whereas it isn’t helping at all. Sustainability in the industry is all about something being able to continue on and on, not about welfare and the way things are done.
Watching the documentary has made me realise that some of the biggest effects on the ocean with climate change is us as humans and fishing. It has shown me that we can make a difference by reducing our fish intakes or stopping eating fish in general to bring life back to our oceans and allow peace for many ecosystems to grow and become what they used to be.
What can I be doing to help and make changes? This is a question I’ve been asking myself a lot recently from all the research I’ve been carrying out. I am a vegetarian and have been my whole life so I feel I am doing my part in one way however, there could be so much more I could be doing to make a difference and help to protect the earth for generations to come. Some things I want to do more of and be aware of is making sure that I know what is needed to be recycled and be better at understanding waste, as well as carrying out more beach cleans which I used to do however haven’t done in years. As much as feel these are such little things I am doing to help, if everyone was making these small changes in their lives it could make a great impact on the earth and change things for the better.
Reference
Tabrizi, A. (Director), & Andersen, K. (Producer). (2021). Seaspiracy [Documentary; Netflix]. A.U.M. Films, Disrupt Studios.