Mr. Perkins
BIO 112-Web
15 October 2014
A Summary of “The Devolution of the Seas”
According to Alan B., Sielen, who wrote, “The Devolution of the Seas,” through human error and climate change, our oceans are devolving into waters dominated by microbes, jellyfish, and disease. By destroying the marine habitats within our seas and oceans, humans are threatening their own livelihood by not only destroying a food supply but also other benefits that marine life offers.
Pollutants such as, everyday trash, chemicals, and farm fertilizers are not only killing off marine life, but also destroying natural habitats within those waters. The pollutants in our oceans and seas are not only hazardous to marine life but also to the wildlife and humans that consume them. Pollutants are threatening ecosystems not only in our country, but also in others (Sielen). …show more content…
Through commercial fishing many of the ocean and seas marine life is caught and killed unnecessarily through netting and a lot of the marine life is not consumed, but discarded, in turn depriving many other of earth’s creatures their natural food source. As an alternative to declining marine life humans have begun raising their own fish. Although fish farming can be beneficial, it can also be harmful to the environment by spreading disease and other pollutants into other waterways affecting other habitats and wildlife (Sielen).
In many other ways we are affecting the decline of our oceans. By developing coastal areas we are destroying coastal marshes and fisherman are damaging marine habitats and their marine life by fishing deeper into the ocean and dragging their nets along the oceans floor