An Inspiring Overview
Helen Scales’ inspiring work, What the Wild Sea Can Be: The Future of the World’s Ocean, addresses climate-caused threats to our oceans, while providing a glimmer of hope in a darkening world. We are constantly inundated by media updates about global warming, often overlooking the unique ecosystems of our vast oceans. Scales, a marine biologist and author, has taken it upon herself to highlight these crucial aspects in her latest book.
Three Sections of Insight
The book is organized into three compelling sections: the ocean’s history, vanishing species and habitats, and the ocean’s restoration and future. By taking a global perspective, Scales effectively showcases how specific regions and their wildlife are impacted by the changing climate. One alarming statistic drives home the immediacy of the crisis: in just fifty years, the total mass of vertebrate life in the ocean has halved due to human activities.
Critical Issues Facing Marine Life
Scales explores key issues impacting marine life, ranging from warming waters and disease-causing bacteria and viruses to plastics contamination. She gives striking examples, such as the high risk of microplastics consumption among blue whales due to the shrimp and krill they eat. During their migration to the coast of California, blue whales can consume over 10 million plastic particles daily, which have severe biological impacts. Furthermore, invasive species like lionfish are upsetting the ecological balance. Native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, lionfish are now found along America’s east coast and in the Mediterranean, where they threaten other species to extinction.
Hope Amid the Crisis
Despite the alarming scenarios, Scales encourages readers to see the ocean’s glory through “mental time travel” and to retain a sense of wonderment. She offers hopeful scenarios and advice for making conscious decisions about the earth’s biodiversity. Her objective is to turn readers’ eco-anxiety into commitment and initiative. Scales hopes her book will serve as an antidote to the fears for the planet’s future, providing a glimmer of light in a darkening world.
