I see things that most people do not: A different world underwater.
But
my world is being destroyed. The ocean is dying. I have seen first hand the after
effects of what we have done, how we are ruining it. Water is what differentiates our planet
from any other and facilitates life. No ocean, no life. We call this world
planet earth, but seven tenths of the world’s surface is covered by water and over 80%
of life on earth lives in the ocean. Life on earth evolved from the sea. We
all come from the sea, but we are not all of the sea.
There are those who have never seen these creatures in the wild. They see them in their bank accounts. They profit from the destruction of our oceans.
They take exactly what they want with no thought or respect for the impact it will have.
But we
depend on the oceans. They hold 97% of the planet's water, produce more
than half of the oxygen in the atmosphere and absorb the most carbon from
it. Over
2 billion people rely on the oceans for their primary source of food. Destroying
the ocean is threatening everything that lives in it.
Sharks
are just one of the species that are in real danger. But ironically, society has taught us that sharks
that are dangerous and you grow up believing it. But when you see the
very thing you were told to fear underwater: it’s absolutely incredible. If
sharks were the evil, deadly man eaters that the media sensationalises them to
be, then I would have probably been eaten years ago.
However, I believe that sharks know we are not
prey. Millions
of people swim every year in waters where sharks hunt all the time. If they
wanted to eat us they would, but they don’t.
Swimming
with sharks I feel vulnerable, clumsy and small. They have an aura of
invincibility, but nothing is as it seems. Sharks are in serious
trouble. Every single second of every single day around 3 sharks are
killed by us. With 90% of the world's shark populations already wiped out,
sharks are being depleted faster than they can reproduce and if an apex
predator is taken out of any ecosystem then eventually it is going to collapse.
Sharks are vitally important; they have shaped life in the ocean for over 400
million years. Sharks kill 5 people each year. We legally execute 2,400
people a year and kill 100 million sharks. Is it really sharks that we should
fear? Don’t fear them. Fear for them.
I
believe that future generations are going to look back on us as barbarians, in the same way we now look
back on slave traders.We
are driving species to extinction and the worst part is that we know what
we’re doing and yet we’re still allowing it to happen. I
just hope that by the time people finally see sense, it isn’t too late, the
damage isn’t irreversible and we aren’t faced with the extinction of species.
People
protect what they love, this is what I love and I’m determined to fight
for it. I want future generations to grow up to be able to experience the
same ocean that I have. But if this carries on, in the next 4 years 30% of
known species of sharks and rays could become extinct. Once they’re gone we’ve lost them
forever. We
will have to carry that on our conscience; it will be the fault of
mankind. We have caused these problems, now it is our duty to fix them.
People
don’t see what goes on in the oceans so it’s easy for them to ignore. They
wanted to save bears, leopards and elephants; mankind was afraid of sharks and
creatures of the deep. However I believe that if others had witnessed what
I have seen in my lifetime from hundreds of hours underwater, I would not seem outspoken at all.