#OccupyTheOcean

#OccupyTheOcean

The Ocean is the single biggest feature of our planet.

From one million miles away we resemble a small blue marble, from one billion miles a pale blue dot.

The Ocean covers more than 70% of the Earth's surface, holds more than 80% of its biodiversity and 90% of its habitat.

Phytoplankton in the Ocean provide more than half of our oxygen and provides the basis of the primary protein for more than a billion people.

More than half a billion people, mostly artisanal fishers, owe their livelihoods to the seafood industry.

Humans have derived unmeasurable inspiration, joy, recreation and relaxation from the Ocean for millennia.

But WE have treated the Ocean poorly, and it's decline in recent decades has been catastrophic for our planet and its people.

WE have put too much into the Ocean, in the form of oil, sewage, fertilizers and pesticides, antibiotics, plastic pollution, noise and increasing levels of CO2.

WE have taken too much out of the Ocean by subsidizing and encouraging inefficient and destructive overfishing, bottom trawling, long-lining, purse seining, dynamite fishing, irresponsible aquaculture and illegal hunting.

WE have destroyed the edge of the ocean--places like wetlands, kelp forests, mangrove forests, river deltas, coral reefs and seagrass beds--where diversity and abundance once thrived, now turned into dead zones growing in size and number.

As a result of OUR behavior, the wildest animals and most remote beaches on the planet carry plastic in them, coral reefs are on the verge of disappearing, shark populations have been decimated, the ocean is warming and becoming more acidic and fisheries are predicted to collapse globally.

This situation will only continue to spiral downward, unless we listen, learn and change.

To slow, stop and then reverse this trend will take immediate, widespread and drastic actions, not isolated, small and incremental adjustments.

The control large corporations have over our political processes must be severed, bold legislation enacted and new behavior patterns widely adopted.

We need an Ocean Revolution.

The passionate individuals, organizations, expertise and solutions needed to do this exist around the world.

What is needed is a massive boost in personal and political will alongside strong actions and louder voices.

It is OUR coast and OUR Ocean.

The time is now to Occupy The Ocean.

[This is a living document: repost this anywhere you like, personalizing and adding to it as you will, in support of your good work for the Ocean]

Blue Ocean Society's Plastic facts

Plastic Facts:

Marine litter can be defined as any man-made object present in the marine environment

50% or more of marine litter is in some form of plastic. Examples include: raw plastic pellets, plastic bags and sheeting, monofilament fishing nets and multi-pack soda can holders

Plastics have been extremely beneficial for humans in that they are more durable, lightweight, cheap and versatile as opposed to traditional materials such as wood or glass.

However, it is exactly the lightweight nature of plastics which can make them deadly in the marine environment, as plastic items can float on the surface of the ocean or within the water column
Plastics are composed of long chains of hydrocarbons, which are hydrogen and carbon atoms that are bound together very tightly.

Micro-organisms such as plankton do not have the ability to break down these bonds and therefore plastic does not decompose easily.

Plastics are the most common man-made object sighted at sea. During a 1998 survey, 89% of the trash observed floating in the North Pacific Ocean was plastic

The raw form of plastics, called resin pellets, constitute a large part of marine debris, but unfortunately they are relatively unnoticed.

Many common plastic objects such as bottles, sheeting and Styrofoam cups were found on remote Arctic beaches of the southern Beaufort Sea.

In 1960, almost 6.3 billion pounds of plastic was produced in the United States. By the early 1970's the figure had tripled and continued to increase to a volume of approximately 50 billion pounds in 1988. This is more than 10 pounds of plastic for every person on earth!

The packaging industry used more than 14 billion pounds of plastics in 1987 with nearly all of that ending up as waste.

Plastic sheeting has been documented in the stomachs of sperm whales, round-toothed dolphins and a Curvier beaked whale.

Many sea turtles frequently swallow plastic bags when they mistake them for jelly fish, which is one of their favorite foods.

One turtle found in New York had actually consumed 590 feet of heavy duty fishing line!