Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Are You Interested In Ocean Conservation

By Harold Moore


Wildlife conservation is as important in the oceans as it is on the mainland. Ocean research gives us better information about what lives in the depths of our seas, so we can endeavor to keep them safe for future generations to enjoy. When you think Africa, you may not immediately think of its coastline and the animals that live there, but in fact, the African coast shelters many creatures, some in danger from human-made pollution and hunting. If you are searching for a profession in ocean conservation and love the ocean, spending time volunteering for projects in Africa is a perfect choice for your gap year.

You can find whale sharks in warm and tropical oceans and live for around 70 years. Although they were thought to feed mainly on plankton, the BBC program Planet Earth caught a shark feeding on a school of small fish. Their anatomy has evolved to allow them to be very effective when they are feeding and their large mouths which can be up to 1.5 metres wide allow them to collect and filter their food.

Preservation also involves protection of marine wildlife such as dolphins. The fishing industry relies on modern methods to capture as many fish at one time to increase profits. The nets that are used to catch tuna fish also trap dolphins.

In 1997 the government in the Maldives produced a report which said that there was to be more research into the preservation of the coral reefs and the fish and other invertebrates living in and around it so that it could remain in the pristine condition you currently find it. For this reason, there are many preservation projects currently in place across the archipelago and whale sharks are one of their main subjects.

The Great White Shark is endangered due to culling and the changing sea environment, and the program works to educate people about the importance of sharks and keeping the Great White Shark an important part of the sea eco-system. This is a true gap year adventure, including actually being able to dive with the sharks and thus learning more about them and their environment.

Oil leaking from an offshore oil rig will kill all the creatures in the area of the leak. The oil will wash up on shore and destroy the delicate ecosystems along the shore. The oil will trap and kill marine life such as birds, dolphins, seals, and any other creature that is unfortunate enough to be affected by the oil spill. Everyone who cares about the environment should be interested in sea preservation.

The whale shark is currently targeted by many commercial fisheries, the overall population of this particular fish is unknown, and along with six other species of shark, it is considered as vulnerable. Although they continue to be hunted in many areas for commercial purposes, the fishing, selling, importing and exporting of the species has been banned in the Philippines, India, and Taiwan. With more conservation wildlife projects taking place, hopefully, eventually the population will be recorded, allowing there to be some more hard facts on the future of the whale shark.

Combine this with estimates by the WWF that around 2.7 billion pounds of marine life are unintentionally caught, killed then thrown back into the sea and we have an urgent situation. As part of your work in conservation you may want to get involved with political lobby groups to encourage legal protections to be implemented.




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