PROTECT OCEAN FOR THE FUTURE

You’re not a wave you’re part of the ocean –Mitch Albom

Who doesn’t love the ocean? Each of us enjoys the breeze from the blue crystal waters and the cool, soft sands on our feet. Either white or blackish sand, pebbles in the island, fire sunsets over a blue horizon – and most of all, the stunning wildlife beneath the waters. The ocean is purely a different world all its own.

Unfortunately, it is slowly dying. Black wastewater coming from factories, garbage the tourists left behind, illegal fishing, coral poaching and the worst, plastic pollution, are factors that contribute to the slow demise of the world’s oceans.

The ocean is considered as the heart of the planet. It produces over half of the oxygen in the world, more than what the forests are producing. What else do humans benefit from the ocean?

• As a carbon sink. The ocean absorbs 50 times more carbon dioxide than our atmosphere. How? The phytoplankton which are considered as the “trees” in the ocean absorb carbon dioxide and releases oxygen;
• Regulate the Earth’s climate. Ocean absorbs the heat then transport warm water from the equator to the poles, and cold water from the poles to the tropics. It holds 97% of the water of our planet, almost all rain that drops on land comes from sea;
• An important food source. More than a billion people source out protein from the ocean. More than 15.7% of the animal protein in the world is taken from fish. This makes the ocean a number one source of protein for humans.
• Habitat for marine wildlife. The ocean is home to thousands of sea creatures, from the smallest to the biggest animal found in planet Earth. When you sail across an ocean, you will see dolphins, whales or a turtle popping up to take a breath but they are just some of the creatures found in the surface of the waters. More amazing life below the ocean’s surface can be discovered, a hidden beauty at its best.
• Therapeutic healing. The ocean’s waves produce a sound which is a form of white noise and some psychologists believe that it helps to relax our brains. It stimulates the production of feel good chemicals in out body, including serotonin and dopamine.

Despite all this, we still know little about the vast ocean. People tend to keep in their mind that we need the oceans to survive yet our habits continue to damage the oceans’ beauty.

Trash here, trash there, trash everywhere. We have made the ocean our dumping site which in turn gives birth to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – the world’s biggest dumping site in the ocean. Sadly, the Philippines is touted as one of the three top contributors to ocean’s plastic pollution.

Is there nothing we can do? Of course, there is.  After all, we need the ocean more that it needs us. It is now a time for us to make our concrete action to protect and conserve the ocean’s resources.

This month of May, we celebrate the Month of the Ocean (MOO) by the virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 57 issued in 1999. This aims to highlight the importance and significance of conservation, protection, and sustainable management of the Philippine coastal and marine resources.

PP No. 75 mandates the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Agriculture through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) to spearhead the activities of MOO in collaboration with the different sectors of the society.

With this year’s theme: Para sa Tao: “Protected Areas for Protected Future, the DENR encourages the public to be more aware of the actions we do, especially towards the environment.

“The ocean provides so many benefits for us. From the food we eat to the air we breathe, the ocean plays a vital role hence, we need to conserve and protect it. This Month of the Ocean, although we are all locked down because of the crisis, we can do things that will help protect our oceans. Observe proper waste segregation, try composting at home, and do some waste recycling. With that, we lessen the load of wastes that burden our sanitary landfills or dumpsites,” DENR-6 regional executive director Francisco E. Milla Jr. said. (DENR-6)