For some of us, the ocean is a vast place of blues and deep greens, a monotonous seascape, a desert of water. Yet it has an endlessness that intrigues and a horizon that swells and sways voluptuously. Sea birds inhabit this world where the ocean meets the sky. Some hover above the waves, never landing, while others soar majestically in great arcs. Some dive like darts, piercing and chasing, others flitter and pick at the surface and a few species just paddle and bob under the sun. Sea birds– also known as pelagic birds – are an important part of the marine world and powerful indicators of the health of the oceans: when they’re in trouble, our oceans are too.
The planet has an ever-burgeoning population, with more than one-and-a-half billion people relying solely on fish for food. This puts tremendous pressure on the oceans and the result is that the marine environment has become a very sensitive place from which to harvest. The South African fishing industry is a world leader in sustainable fishing, working in partnership with NGOs such as BirdLife South Africa and its Albatross Task Force, and innovative new fishing methods are yielding great successes. Since 2006, for example, sea bird mortality rates (particularly albatrosses) have been reduced by 80 per cent in our region.
And this is indeed a success to be celebrated, especially considering the disappearance of sea birds from our world, with many species teetering on the edge of extinction in an often helpless battle against the odds.
Every year about two-anda- half billion litres of waste oil enter the oceans and, with just a single drop capable of contaminating a million drops of water, the effects are catastrophic. When an albatross comes into contact with a drifting oil slick, it takes a spot as big as your thumb to render the insulation and water resistance of the bird’s plumage useless and it often dies.
Experts estimate that more than a million sea birds die every year from ingesting plastic or from becoming ensnared and entangled. This type of pollution is omnipresent as plastic waste is swept by the ocean currents into great swirling vortices called gyres. At least five of these gyres are known to exist, floating islands of death. The largest of all is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a mass of plastic the size of South Africa and getting bigger all the time. Closer to home, the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean Gyres loom ominously off our shores.
The endlessness of our oceans – flowing from one into the other, linking continents and connecting horizons – give an illusion of resilience and health and vitality. But they’re being destroyed by people, who need to become aware of the challenges that lie ahead. We need to celebrate our successes and recognise the failures and work together because there is hope.
