Jeremy Jackson: “How we Wrecked the Ocean,” a TED Talk

Jeremy Jackson started out in Chesapeake Bay—diving in the winter which eventually led him to his calling as a coral reef ecologist. He made his way to Jamaica, where beautiful reefs adorned the coast of the West Indies. But something is peculiar when you look at pictures of those reefs from the 60s and 70s: there were no fish in the pictures.

            The reefs of Discovery Bay in Jamaica were the most studied reefs in the last twenty years. What scientists learn most about coral reefs “was based on these reefs without any fish.” Where it was generally accepted that hurricanes may destroy coral reefs, the prediction of Jackson and what would happen just happened to be wrong. Overfishing was the culprit. When natural disasters used to occur, coral ecosystems tend to eventually recover; however, overfishing, pollution, and climate change have now hindered these natural processes—interacting in ways that prevent recovery.

            Industrial fisheries use drag nets that scrape the sea floor to catch and endanger habitats—so it is not only fish which are disappearing. Corals are destroyed by this practice, like the “area of the ocean floor that has been transformed from forest to level mud.” Looking for a perspective, the destruction equates to as if “the entire area of all the forests that have been cut down on all of the earth in the history of humanity”—and we have managed to this in a relatively short time.

Pollution from oil spills and plastic waste also play a pivotal role to the destruction of marine life. Invasive species and nutrient loading exacerbate the destruction. Run-off from fertilizers find their way into waterways. Red tides or toxic blooms are becoming more commonplace.

            In regards to climate change, the warming of earth’s ocean systems will have a deleterious impact for marine life. The warming of polar ice caps and rising levels would not only have a consequence for life in the oceans but for the life on land as well. Coral bleaching is an effect of algae unable to produce sugars which the corals thrive on when ocean temperatures rise.

            The most frightening aspect of these scenarios is that “each thing doesn’t happen in a vacuum.” Instead, positive feedback loops exacerbate the situation at hand. How oceanic life can survive will depend on how humanity moves forward in these undertakings. Physical, chemical, and oceanographic changes are occurring, and unless we change the way we think, and set priorities that include all life on earth, we might see an end to the current ways of living. Jackson implores us to set aside our greed and need for growth—because it is not about the fish, or pollution, or even climate change, it is about how we see ourselves and the example we want to set for generations to come.

Reflections

Jeremy Jackson’s TED Talk incorporated many visuals that demonstrate the plight of marine ecosystems—in particular, the effect our practices have on coral reefs. The extent of humanity’s overfishing has severely depleted the functioning ability of once pristine places on earth such as Discovery Bay in Jamaica. The pollution incurred by mankind is nothing to scoff at, and the loss of biodiversity because of this pollution is weakening natural ecosystems around the world. Mankind has shaped the landscape of Earth on an unprecedented level. We may have a general idea of the consequences we face, but the severity seems unfathomable at times. It is through educating people on the destruction of our oceans that stands the hope we may be able to change our actions in a sustainable way.