The local paper might print a few articles on the same subject over time, but when there’s an article every week about a different orca ailing or dying, you take notice. And according to some of the authors of those articles, orca deaths are indicative of the many other species who are quietly passing away. In other words, “if orcas are in decline, the rest of the ocean is likely in big trouble, too,” says a Scientific American article.
Our family has never gone whale-watching for orcas, but we hear that there is such a disruptive confluence of boats surrounding the pods at times that, for an orca, it’s like walking around with a leaf-blower behind you all your life, according to a local’s comments on Facebook.
It’s not an isolated problem. As I see it, we billions of humans (I include myself) are basically making so many choices in all realms of life that satisfy us temporarily and harm the environment permanently that there is no simple fix. Over-fishing, over-consuming, over-transporting, over-producing, over-fertilizing, over-everythinging for human gratification affects all other species that are simply trying to live. Will we change our ways or will we wait until our choices leave us with no other choices?
If you’d like more information on how we can start affecting faster change, a good place to start is The SeaDoc Society.
