Preserving Our Planet

The distinguishing eye markings of the vaquita   The race is on to save the world's smallest cetacean, the vaquita, a unique and beautiful porpoise. Until a couple of months ago, I’d never heard of a vaquita: a beautifully elusive porpoise which is also unknown to Word since it doesn’t recognise its name. For this reason, I am shrugging off the mantle of blame for my ignorance. After all, I live in the UK - vaquitas are endemic to the Gulf of California; I live nowhere near the sea - they live in the Sea of Cortez; Word doesn’t recognise its name – I am a wordsmith, not a nautical expert with a degree in ecology and marine biology. You can’t really be surprised at most of my generation being unaware of vaquitas either – they were only discovered in 1958. Being so rare, it is unfortunately due to the threat of extinction that they have now swum reluctantly into the media light. You only need to look at a picture of a vaquita to see how uniquely beautiful t...

There is now so much plastic in our oceans, they are drowning in it!     The ocean is the origin and the engine of all life on this planet — and it is under threat. The future for our oceans is bleak For years campaigners have been fighting over-fishing, climate change, pollution, habitat loss and the murder of cetaceans and other marine life. In 2017, the future of our oceans is bleak! It’s that simple. What most people are tending to ignore is the fact we need our oceans for our continued survival.  Call me extreme, call me alarmist, call me what you like but do some research and you will see I am right. Our oceans provide around 50% of our oxygen; our oceans are depended on by millions of poor people around the world as a main food source; our oceans are giant hydro pumps used to give us fresh water. By devastating our oceans, we devastate our water, food and oxygen. None of which we can survive for long without. We are surrounded by evidence: only a f...