Save the oceans, save ourselves

By Steve Sorensen
Article Launched: 09/18/2008 05:23:57 PM PDT

Mercury News

Since man has inhabited the Earth common thought has been that the oceans are much too big to be affected by human action. The idea that the oceans are indestructible has met its end. Despite their size, the oceans are vulnerable to the same unsustainable trends that are degrading the terrestrial environment.

The impact we have had on ocean ecosystems has been vastly underestimated. Did you know only 10 percent of all large fish — both open ocean species including tuna, swordfish and marlin, and the large bottom fish such as cod, halibut, skates and flounder — are left in the sea, according to research published in the scientific journal Nature? And the state of California warns those big predatory fish are full of the toxins and other pollutants that we cast into the oceans. Plankton in the ocean generates more oxygen than land-based plants and the oceans remove carbon dioxide from our air. Bottom line, we don't take care of our oceans, we won't be around.

Millions of Californians enjoy the state's coast line and waterways every day — nine out of 10 will visit the beach at least once this year. However, many of those people are unaware how their daily activities can impact the plants and animals off our shores.

Almost 90 percent of floating marine debris is plastic. Due to its durability, buoyancy and ability to absorb and concentrate toxins present in the ocean, plastic is especially harmful to marine life. Plastic marine debris affects most sea birds, fish and sea mammals, as they often mistake plastic for food. Some birds even feed it to their young. With plastic filling their stomachs, animals have a false feeling of being full, and may die of starvation. Sea turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, one of their favorite foods. Even gray whales have been found dead with plastic bags and sheeting in their stomachs.

How does plastic get into the ocean? Look around the next time you walk down the street. When it rains, trash on sidewalks and streets accumulates in the gutters and is swept into our storm drain system. The storm drains dump into the bay and then is flushed to the ocean by the tides. Trash also may be dumped directly into the water by recreational and commercial boaters, and it is often left on the shores by beach-goers. A recent study found an average of 334,271 pieces of plastic per square mile in the North Pacific Central Gyre, a natural eddy system that concentrates material in the ocean.

How you can help keep the bay and ocean clean for your children and your children's children:

Reduce, reuse and recycle at home, work and school.

Buy products made from recycled materials with little or no packaging.

Keep sidewalks, gutters and storm drains clean — they drain to the bay.

Properly dispose of fishing lines, nets and hooks.

Volunteer for Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday. Go to www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/ccd.html.

Steve Sorensen is a 42-year resident of Alameda and a 25-year real estate broker at Harbor Bay Realty, an avid sea kayaker and responsible abalone hunter.