Today we celebrate the grand opening of 19 underwater parks along the beautifully rugged and wild shores of Northern California -- my Golden State can now boast of a complete set of coastal crown jewels.
This is a bad day for all of us who love the ocean. Above all, it is a bad day for the penguins, seals, killer whales, and other species that live in Antarctic waters. The problem is bigger than Antarctica, though.
When humans brutally massacre sharks for their fins (finning them alive and throwing them back into the sea) food webs unravel.
No, the document that government officials produced after months of negotiation doesn't contain much that will make the planet a better place for me or my daughters. It lacks teeth. It ignores pressing issues like the need to expand renewable energy and protect ocean life on the high seas.
The Australian government has formed the world's largest network of ocean reserves. The network is anchored by a massive reserve in the Coral Sea. As we say, "Go you, Aussies."
Australia's announcement details their plans to protect more than a third of its waters, including important deep ocean habitats like the Diamantina Fracture zone, Australia's largest under water mountain range.
Diving in Salas y Gómez was like going back in time in Easter Island. The team found an incredible amount of marine life in the marine park, including scores of Galapagos sharks, large amberjacks, huge lobsters, and colorful corals that covered the sea floor.
Sharks deserve to be part of our lives for more than one week each year and many shark populations are on the verge of collapse due to a destructive practice called shark finning.
Next time you're lucky enough to crack open a lobster, consider this: you may be doing your part to stimulate California's economy. However, expanding marine reserves will take away about 20% of the state's lobster catch.
This decade will be remembered and felt for its impact on Nature: the species that were saved and those that were lost; the heating of the planet; the forests cut down and those that continue to provide oxygen to our children's children.
