If it's raining where you are, the ocean played a role.
If you drove to work, the seas are absorbing the carbon dioxide from
your car. If you ordered seafood for lunch, it may have traveled halfway
around the world to land on your plate.
No matter where you live on Earth, what you do affects the ocean – and what happens to the ocean affects you.
The ocean covers more than two-thirds of the world's surface. In the
past 50 years we have learned more about Earth's ocean than in all of
preceding human history. But, at the same time we learned more, we lost
more.
The amount of marine life we extract to feed ourselves is
astronomical, and some of our fishing methods – dynamite fishing, bottom
trawling, cyanide fishing, and other techniques – cause great damage to
current and future fish stocks and to the underwater world in which
they thrive. Today, 90 percent of the ocean's top predators are gone.
Entire populations of fish, and the communities and economies they support, have collapsed. Seafloors look like war zones. Corals
have been bleached white from chemical runoff. Dead zones – vast swaths
of ocean that can no longer support life – are spreading throughout the
marine realm.
These critical issues don't deter us. With our partners, we've embarked on a scientific mission that will tell us exactly where species
and marine ecosystems are most threatened and what actions we can take
to reverse them. Our research to date has already helped strengthen
three protected
“Seascapes” in critical marine areas around the world.
Our partnerships are diverse. Some of the industries we work with to protect marine life may surprise you:
continue @ conservation.org
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