The winning photograph of the great photo contest 2021 by Renee Capozzola, USA.
The blue planet. We could not have found a better nickname for the planet that is mostly made up of water, this precious resource that is essential to life.
The ocean produces 50% of our oxygen and shelters the great majority of our biodiversity. In total, nearly 3 billion people live off the ocean and its resources, mainly in developing countries. The ocean also feeds people, and is the main source of protein for nearly a billion people on Earth.
For 30 years now and following the Rio Summit, we have been celebrating World Ocean Day every June 8. Informing, raising awareness of the challenges of preserving our oceans, mobilizing and uniting humanity to better manage and protect our ocean ecosystem, these are some of the challenges of this World Ocean Day.
Organized by the United Nations, this day also celebrates the beauty of the oceans and shows to what extent this ecosystem is rich and must be preserved.
« Revitalizing the oceans through collective action »
This is the theme chosen for this year’s World Ocean Day. The program will feature testimonials from opinion leaders, celebrities, institutional partners, community voices, entrepreneurs and cross-sector experts who will share their views on biodiversity and the economic opportunities offered by our oceans.
The major role of scientific research in the preservation of the seabed
Overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction have led to an erosion of marine biodiversity. Managing our resources sustainably, preserving biodiversity and fighting against pollution and climate change are the four priority challenges for ocean science research if we want to preserve our oceans. We must take care of the oceans as they take care of us.
The ocean is home to an extraordinary number of marine species that must be protected and it is a goldmine for the production of many medicines. A healthy ocean is a healthy planet and therefore conducive to life. It is therefore essential to better manage these ocean resources.
Let’s take the example of the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer) which, thanks to “Deep learning” technology, is testing so-called intelligent trawls in Lorient which avoid accidental catches by sorting the fish before bringing them on board and thus limiting the impact of fishing on the marine ecosystem.
One of the finalist photographs of the great photo contest 2021 by Henley Spiers, UK.
Another interesting aspect of this scientific research is the fight against plastic pollution.
8 to 18 million tons of plastic waste end up in the sea every year. This waste then decomposes into micro and nano plastics smaller than 5mm and their number is now estimated at 24,400 billion, i.e. five times more than previously thought.
Dramatic consequences for the fauna and flora which undergo damages sometimes irreversible. Unfortunately, plastic allows a good number of microscopic organisms, bacteria or viruses to proliferate and even certain invasive species to move across the globe causing an unprecedented invasion of territories where many of these micro-organisms should never have arrived.
A massive invasion of plastic in our oceans that can be observed even in filtering organisms such as oysters that often confuse plastic micro and nanoparticles with plankton by ingesting them. As a result, disorders are observed in these filtering organisms as revealed by the study conducted in Brittany on hollow oysters “Crassostrea gigas”, which, after being exposed to polystyrene, showed reproductive disorders.
A photo contest to pay tribute to the beauty of our oceans:
In partnership with the United Nations and the Diverphotoguide.com website, the World Ocean Network offers each year an international photography contest open to all. The objective: to stimulate creativity and highlight the link that unites us with the ocean and magnify its beauty while raising awareness of the issues and challenges of preservation. The results of the great photography contest will be revealed this Wednesday, June 8, to reward the winners.
Une des photographies finalistes du grand concours photo 2021 par Jacopo Brunetti, Italie.
Becoming a citizen of the ocean is possible!
On the occasion of this new World Ocean Day, many events are organized to take action and get involved in the preservation of our ocean ecosystem.
Aquariums, science museums, associations and environmental education institutions are all involved in this World Ocean Day by offering the general public fun and concrete actions to raise awareness of the challenges of protecting our oceans.
Participants in the proposed workshops will be given an “Ocean Passport” in exchange for a commitment on their part to act by carrying out certain actions to preserve our seabed and this even at home with concrete actions, such as saying No to the microbeads present in our scrubs, which are too fine to be filtered, often end their life in our oceans…
Find the complete list of events organized for this World Ocean Day on the United Nations website:
Sources:
https://www.worldoceannetwork.org
https://www.un.org/fr/observances/oceans-day
https://www.divephotoguide.com/
Journée mondiale de l’océan : mettons fin à notre guerre contre la nature
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSCK0ZAxhfE
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