Ocean & Our Ecological Elders

 

O Lord, how manifold are your works!
    In wisdom you have made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.

25 There is the sea, great and wide;
    creeping things innumerable are there,
    living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships
    and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.

Psalm 104: 24-26 NRSVue

David Attenborough (99) is one of the world's public-facing ecological elders, along with other notables such as Jane Goodall (91) and Canada's David Suzuki (89). Being spokespersons for the planet seems to result in longevity, despite what is often dire news.

Attenborough has created what may be his swan-song documentary, although you never know with this remarkable man. He made his first nature film in 1954, a very good year. This possibly ultimate doc is Ocean, and you can guess the subject. We watched it last evening, the day after World Oceans Day, and as people who seek out the ocean somewhere most years we found it quite moving.

                                                                    Young David Attenborough

I wrote in my journal last night that it has all the makings of a wellcrafted, three point sermon, which it is, in the best sense of that word. 

It begins with an invitation into the wonders of our oceans and seas, the extraordinary diversity of the cradle of life. Thanks to drones and sophisticated underwater cameras the footage is breath-taking.

It moves on the bad news, essentially the indictment of our sinfulness as a species, because of hubris and greed. There are now 400,000 trawlers and factory ships roaming the oceans in search of the creatures therein. Some of the largest patrol the waters of Antarctica, hoovering up untold tons of krill, an essential creature in the foodchain. They are turned into pet food, among other products. The trawlers are clear-cutting the ocean floor, with a so-called by-catch that often exceeds the targetted species. 

We found this section anxiety-producing, but we hung in there for the good news of possible resurrection -- okay, I'm adding my gloss in terms of theological jargon. Attenborough took us to marine reserves in different oceans where coral and kelp and fish are re-establishing with remarkable speed and abundance. Somehow species thought long gone have found there way back and are flourishing. 

Of course there are no actual boundaries to these zones and fishers working outside them are seeing catches increase. It demonstrates that what makes sense for conservation has commercial benefits as well. We also see how whale populations are rebounding, in part because of the whale harvesting ban established in 1986. 

We came to the end of Ocean hopeful and mindful that Canada along with a number of other countries has committed to a United Nations High Seas Protection Treaty. So far only 31 countries have signed on and so its hoped that at the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) in France this week there will be momentum to reach the 60 countries needed to ratify the treaty.

We watched Ocean at home but if you have the opportunity to see it on a bigger screen, choose that option. We would probably watch again if it comes to a theatre nearby. Meanwhile we are counting the sleeps until we return to outport Newfoundland in August, Creator being our helper. 

1 I feel the winds of God today; today my sail I lift,

though heavy oft with drenching spray and torn with many a rift;

if hope but light the water's crest, and Christ my bark will use,

I'll seek the seas at his behest, and brave another cruise.