THE CITIZENS OF THE SEA

                The citizens of the sea

The planets first life form was born in the oceans. Not surprisingly, oceans are home to about 80% of all life form on earth. From Norway to New Zealand, from the frigid waters of the polar areas to the warm waters of the tropic, and everywhere in between our seas and oceans team with marine citizens that prey, play, fight, survive, give birth in the water and continue the fascinating cycle of marine life.

 Many fascinating creatures call the sea kingdom their home. One such creature is the sea horse-the only animal species in which the male bears the unborn young. Some other interesting habitants of sea are the whales and dolphins which are among the oceans most intelligent citizens, while Loggerhead turtles, which travel 6000km across the worlds largest ocean bearing hungry hammerhead sharks and other troubles to give birth to their young ones, are among its most preserving dwellers.

 A wonderful glow in-the-dark creature is the tiny sea-firefly that inhabits the coastal waters of apart. These amazing creatures were harvested by the Japanese during world war II to aid soldiers in reading maps and messages at night. How we humans - the best of the species – have shown our admiration and gratitude to the plethora of such amazing blessings of nature? We have created Frankenstein's monster that is out there to devour not just these marine creatures but everything else that exists including ours.

 One such horror created by man is plastic. The environmental crisis of plastic pollution has become a serious one. Since humans started creating plastic on a large scale. We have created 8.3 billion metric tons of it. By 2050, that number will be 12 billion metric tons (that is the weight of 3500 Empire State buildings of New York). By that same year, it's estimated that 99% of all sea-birds will have eaten plastic at least once.

 The problem with plastic is that the huge majority ends up as waste. Plastics are made up of super strong carbon-carbon bond. These bonds are not prone to being broken down by organic organisms because the material hasn't existed in nature long enough for them to have evolved much. Of the plastic we have thrown away, only 9% is reduced, 12% is incinerated and 79% accumulated in the natural environment. At the University of Georgia, researchers found that in 2010 alone, 8 million metric tons of plastic ended up in the oceans. 

Currently, plastic kills more than 100,000 sea turtles and sea birds every year, when they eat it or get tangled in it. Case study of Mariana trench (deepest part of ocean): In 2016 a paper published in the journal Nature, examined the inhabitants of deepest part of ocean-Mariana trench.

 Small little stack oceans called amphipods were the perfect study specimen, as they have fatty tissue, which cores not just fat but also chemicals that are inge.And despite these amphipods in the deepest part of the ocean, they were all contaminated with "persistent organic pollutants," or POPS. Permanence means that they do not break down in their environment and are almost impossible to remove. .These include plastics, polychlorinated biphenyls, radioactive wastes, pesticides etc.

 Finally,Ocean pollution isn't bad just for sea creatures but it affects humans also. If these chemicals run persistently within the food chain, then they will eventually reach our own food supply, and contaminate it. Certain chemicals can even create reproductive issues for animals in the ocean, so even if they do survive, they cannot do much for their species. Some ocean preserving organisation, one could support are: 1) Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. 2) 4 Oceans. 3) Ocean Preservation Society (ops). 4) Oceana.