When oceans speak

A recent post-mortems carried out by some German experts on 13 dead whales that washed up on the beach near the German town of Toenning in Schleswig-Holstein, revealed that the animals’ stomachs and intestines were full of plastic, hence dying of cardiac and circulatory failure.

Ocean pollution from our garbage is increasing at an alarming rate and the results have been drastic, endangering species and even the health of man himself. Whether intentional or not, a lot of human-made waste ends up in the ocean, around 90 per cent of it being plastic.

According to a recent report produced by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and published by the World Economic Forum, the world’s oceans may have more plastic debris than fish by the year 2050. This is to show that more plastics over the years make their way into our waters.

The report further noted that plastics production has increased twentyfold since 1964, and is expected to double again in the next 20 years and almost quadruple by 2050. Despite the growing demand, just five per cent of plastics are recycled effectively, while 40 per cent end up in landfill and a third in fragile ecosystems such as the world’s oceans.

From pollution to overfishing, climate change effects and acidification, among other issues, our water bodies are changing drastically.

While much attention has been focused on the effects of climate change on forests, farms and the likes, its effect on the ocean are now very clear and dramatic, as temperatures in the shallowest waters rose by more than 0.1 degree Celsius each decade between 1970 and 2010.

Speaking with Ecoscope on the effects of climate change on oceans, Executive Director, Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMAR), Dr Gbola R. Akande, noted that many fish species have moved in response to ocean warming, disrupting fisheries around the world.

“Climate change is affecting the ocean in several ways. A very notable effect is on the species of fishes that we now have in our oceans. There are varieties now, unlike how it used to be,” he said.

In the same vein, the President of the Nigerian Trawler Owners Association of Nigeria (NTAO), Mr Akinsola Amire, noted that climate change is now affecting fish abundance.

“For instance, we were not getting tiger shrimps in our waters about six years ago, but it started coming in little by little and now it is the main commercial shrimp specie that we find in our waters now. It is good for us, but the abundance of the other fishes has been reducing and also because the waters are getting too warm, the fishes tend to move into deeper waters which are cooler for them.

“And unfortunately this year, rain has not fallen seriously in other to cool down the waters and the catch has been particularly very low,” he lamented.

For decades, the ocean has been absorbing carbon dioxide dumped into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, while oil pollution is now a major problem weakening the resilience of species and habitats and reducing their capacity to cope with climate change.

Discharge of industrial and agricultural waste into the oceans also directly affects the marine life. Oil spills especially, suffocates marine animals to death once it entraps them.

Unsustainable use of marine resources, such as overfishing, has also endangered some of the marine species. According to a Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimate, 85 per cent of fish stocks are fully exploited, over exploited, depleted, or recovering from depletion.

Another major effect of extreme human activities on the ocean is pushing it beyond the limits that the marine environment can sustain. To many environmentalists, land reclamation in coastal areas for urban development can sometimes have adverse effects.

The overflow of the Lagos Bar Beach over the years is a proof that pushing the ocean beyond its limit could have costly effects. The Bar Beach over the years has been overflowing its banks due to high tidal waves, threatening billions of naira worth of investments in real estate and other businesses in the coastal area.

In 2009 for instance, many properties were destroyed by flooding, that even the multi-billion naira shoreline protection barriers could not stop the water from overflowing.

However, with the ongoing Eko Atlantic City project, there have been diverse views on whether this will permanently address the issue of the ocean overflow, or even compound it.

“It is not that I don’t believe in the project, but I still have my reservations. Judging by the cases of over flooding that we have had in the past, one could say it is better to let nature be. Water that large cannot be contained if it fights back. But if those in charge of it really know what they are doing, then it is good one,” a Lagos resident, Oladele Folake said.

A banker in Lagos, Mrs Chioma Davids noted that with the various effects of climate change being felt more of recent, “it is important to put this into consideration, especially with the history of ocean surges that had occurred at the beach area and the untold damage they had done to properties.”

Speaking on how urban development affects marine life, Mr Amire, said many species are being endangered as a result of human development within the coastal area.

“Too much of human development within the coastal area affects the breeding ground for many fishes. And when the breeding ground is affected, it also affects the biodiversity of the habitats. So government definitely has to do something about sand dredging and uncontrolled development within the water front.

“If these areas are not protected, then some of our aquatic resources will definitely be threatened because they won’t have where to breed anymore,” he said.

The question now is how much more can the oceans take and will they survive what humans are doing to them.