The sea cries in Gulf of Mexico

by Saliya JAYATHILAKA

The life on earth is believed to have originated from the ocean. On that score the ocean can be called as the cradle for all kinds of life that exists today. Last Wednesday we commemorated the "World Ocean Day" all over the globe. But it is a pertinant question to ask whether the mankind has forgotten to pay their debt to the ocean. The best evidence is the huge catastrophic disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

June 8th was officially recognised by the United Nations as the "World Ocean Day", when a resolution was passed by the General Assembly in December 2008. The concept was first proposed in 1992, by the Government of Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, and from then it is being unofficially celebrated every year. The official designation of 'World Ocean Day' is an opportunity to raise global awareness of the current challenges faced by the international community in connection with oceans. This year's theme given for the World Ocean Day by the UN was, "Our oceans: opportunities and challenges". In 2009 the theme was "Our Oceans, Our Responsibility". But we are not sure whether we had kept our word.

To prove the point , while we are celebrating the Day, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is causing irreparable damage to the ocean and its environment. The British Petroleum-leased oil rig "Deepwater Horizon" exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers and triggering massive oil spills. Approximately 72,000 to 600,000 tons of crude oil has spilled into the sea to-this-date, thus becoming the worst oil spill in U.S. history - topping the Exxon Valdez disaster, which occurred at Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989.

When oil which spills over the ocean surface it penetrates through the plumage of birds, affecting the insulating ability of the birds, making them vulnerable to the temperature fluctuations. It also reduces their flying mechanism thus making them susceptible to predators.

Marine mammals like sea otters and the seals are also similarly affected. Because the oil floats on top of water, less sunlight penetrates into the water, limiting the photosynthesis process of marine plants and phytoplankton. This creates a terrible impact on the food chain of the ocean.

This years 'World Ocean Day' was a doom. More World Ocean Days to come in the coming years, but if we continue to pollute our dear ocean this way, a day will come when the World Ocean Day will be there, but without an ocean. I would like to quote a statement made by Red Indian chief Seattle to the US President Franklin Pierce in 1854, "Man did not weave the web of life - he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."