Thanks for reading yesterday, and coming back today for more. It delights me that this topic interests you, and that you can’t wait to find out why protecting our ocean will benefit you.

Did you know that the estimated net worth of coral reefs and the ecosystem services they provide is about $29.2 billion/year? I have seen a few examples of figures of this magnitude, but their message is the same. This $h*t is worth protecting.

Imagine a time you went to a beach (if not a beach, then imagine a time you were mesmerized by marine life in an aquarium or on TV). That beach is pristine, there are white sands, no trash, gorgeous healthy plantlife all around the coastline. You dive into the ocean and you see bright, neon colors of live, vibrant coral reefs. The reef is just alive and full of reef fish, octopus, lobsters, crabs. A world abundant. Now imagine that same beach but this time, it’s crowded with people. Each of these people has brought an ice chest and plastic bags full of processed, packaged food. You can’t step on the beach without kicking up a cigarette bud, or uncovering a piece of plastic candy wrapper. You gaze at the trees around you, which have been cut down to make space for picnic tables with grills. You make your way to the ocean and dive in – but you don’t see coral. You see the cement pilings of a cruise ship dock, you see beer cans and dark dirty water.

Those are two total extreme situations, but they are reality in many places around the world. Woman biologist, Rachel Carson, warned us of our footprint on the environment, what toxins would do to our water sources, and how that would trickle down to us – for example, traces of DDT being found in breastmilk. Weird science, eh? Okay, so what does this mean to you? Why will caring about ocean conservation benefit you?

Coral reefs provide a number of ecosystem services – things that they naturally do for us. For instance, their durability and strength protects coastlines from hurricanes. They break up the force of waves by blocking that wave energy from reaching the coastline. When we destroy these natural barriers, we become subjected to mother nature’s force like no other. Coral reefs hold potential for medicine – corals heal themselves, albeit slowly. Many medicines have been cultivated from what we find in the ocean. They can help us sequester the mass amount of CO2 we are producing. Coral reefs use components of carbon dioxide to build their structures. But if that coral is not alive, obviously this doesn’t happen. Corals also provide us employment – fisheries, tourism and recreation. Lately, we’ve seen a boom in “green” tourism. Eco-tours showcasing the beauty of what we have. But what if we don’t have that beauty anymore? People don’t want to see trash strewn reefs, reefs with no fish or no coral. What’s the point in that? Who is proud of that?

And you may think, well I don’t live on an island or near an ocean so why should I care? Do you enjoy seafood? If yes, then wouldn’t you like to still eat seafood when you’re much older? Do you want your kids to enjoy seafood? To know what it’s like to eat something sustainability harvested from our abundant ocean? Okay, maybe you don’t like seafood. Then do you enjoy breathing clean air? Remember that corals help us remove CO2 from the atmosphere, naturally. Even if minimally. The world has a cycle. We work together. Let’s not be the kink in the chain.

I am by no means a dooms day scientist. I don’t believe in shoving negative energy down people’s throats to get them to care about what I care about. But I do believe in presenting the issue. My view is biased, obviously. You are welcome to your own opinion and I would be thrilled for you to share it with us here! Feel free to leave your comments below.

I hope you learned something interesting! Thanks for reading.

(Art by Mae Chevrette)