Marine Week SA: 'We have to conserve the ocean and keep it healthy'
Marking the beginning of National Marine Week, a conservationist and Sustainable Seas Trust says the seas should be treated like our lives depend on them.
Spokesperson Dr. Tony Ribbink has bemoaned the alarming pollution rate with the current 350 kg of plastic going into the sea likely to increase to 700kg.
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Ribbink says besides killing marine life, plastic accumulates poisons which can then affect humans for hundreds of years to come.
"We've got to conserve the ocean and keep it healthy. If we want to have healthy lives and we want our children to prosper and have healthy lives - we need to care for the oceans. Even with what they are doing in Johannesburg - they are a long way from the sea but there's pollution that goes into the air. Pollution that goes to the sea, changes the ecology," he said.
It's #MarineWeekSA uShaka Sea World dedicates a lot of effort into the rehabilitation of marine animals found in distress on KZN beaches. pic.twitter.com/9apDSSvkOI
— SAAMBR (@saambr) October 10, 2016
It’s #MarineWeekSA. Look to the sea for some #MondayMotivation. pic.twitter.com/1baC7D0QmP
— WWF South Africa (@WWFSouthAfrica) October 10, 2016
Overfishing is one of the biggest environmental challenges of our generation #MarineWeekSA… https://t.co/OCmyvTl7bQ pic.twitter.com/xV7vyousXg
— Two Oceans Aquarium (@2OceansAquarium) October 10, 2016
#DYK: In SA, nearly 30,000 fishers survive off the sea from subsistence fishing. Food for thought this #MarineWeekSA pic.twitter.com/9uZNHh2W72
— WWF South Africa (@WWFSouthAfrica) October 10, 2016