tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/blue-planet-ii-45588/articlesBlue Planet II – The Conversation2023-11-20T12:19:35Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2168542023-11-20T12:19:35Z2023-11-20T12:19:35ZMyths about plastic pollution are leading to public confusion: here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559909/original/file-20231116-24-7i6zsv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5463%2C3637&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/volunteer-collects-garbage-on-muddy-beach-1923099980">STEKLO/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Does the prediction that there could be “<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3408064/A-sea-plastic-Trash-outweigh-fish-ocean-just-30-years-unless-drastic-action-taken-recycle.html">more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050</a>” concern you? How about reports that “<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/31/us/microplastic-credit-card-per-week/index.html">we eat a credit card’s worth of plastic per week</a>”? These are some of the “facts” about plastic that are cited by the media. </p>
<p>They are certainly compelling sound bites and help to focus public and policy attention on the pressing topic of plastic pollution, but their scientific basis is far from robust. </p>
<p>The scientists whose findings were used to support the “more plastic than fish” claim <a href="https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/fishy-figures-underpin-ministers-ocean-plastic-warning/">refuted this</a>. But one scientist who worked on the original source the estimation is based on has now updated his figures. The claim is further undermined by the assumptions the calculation is based on and an underestimate of fish stocks. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.wur.nl/en/newsarticle/research-calculates-human-consumes-less-than-a-grain-of-salt-of-microplastics-per-week.htm">Research</a> has also found that humans ingest less than a grain of salt of microplastics each week. This means that it would take around 4,700 years to ingest an amount of plastic equivalent to the weight of a credit card. </p>
<p>Over the past three years I’ve been interviewing households in the UK, Spain and Germany about plastics as part of a <a href="https://www.ukri.org/news/8-million-for-sustainable-plastics-research-projects/">project</a> focused on improving the recycling of plastic packaging. I’ve been struck by the level of confusion people have about the sources of and risks associated with plastic pollution. </p>
<p>So, in collaboration with the <a href="https://www.hereon.de/institutes/coastal_environmental_chemistry/index.php.en">Hereon Institute of Coastal Environmental Chemistry</a> and <a href="https://www.ahnenenkel.com">communications experts</a>, I have launched an online resource called “<a href="https://plasticmyths.coastalpollutiontoolbox.org/">Plastic Mythbusters</a>” that aims to debunk popular plastic myths that regularly feature in media. </p>
<p>Negotiations are currently under way in Nairobi, Kenya, at the UN Environment Programme headquarters, to develop a legally binding <a href="https://www.unep.org/inc-plastic-pollution">global plastics treaty</a> that covers the full life cycle of plastics – including their production, design and disposal. The <a href="https://ikhapp.org/scientist-about-us/">Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty</a> – a network of independent scientific and technical experts – are calling for decisions to be based on robust evidence.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-a-global-treaty-to-solve-plastic-pollution-acid-rain-and-ozone-depletion-show-us-why-207622">We need a global treaty to solve plastic pollution – acid rain and ozone depletion show us why</a>
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<p>The focus of the negotiations is understandably on research from the natural sciences. But what role does media play in shaping public and policy responses to the plastics crisis? </p>
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<h2>Images of plastic pollution</h2>
<p>The images of plastic pollution that are sometimes used by media are emotive and powerful, reaching vast numbers of people. The BBC’s <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b09g4d98/blue-planet-ii-series-1-3-coral-reefs">Blue Planet II</a>, which was broadcast worldwide in 2017, showed audiences the impact of plastic waste on the oceans through upsetting scenes. One scene depicted a pilot whale carrying her <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/heartbroken-blue-planet-ii-viewers-pledge-to-cut-plastic-waste-after-upsetting-footage-of-whale-with-dead-calf-poisoned-by-pollution-a3695596.html">dead newborn calf</a>, which narrator Sir David Attenborough said possibly died because the mother’s milk had been poisoned with plastic.</p>
<p>Scenes such as these are now synonymous with plastic pollution. They can raise awareness of the problem and help to <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-prisms-plastics/article/global-perceptions-of-plastic-pollution-the-contours-and-limits-of-debate/DB3F2AF3F0A176C73CBF6CC9576713D3">shape the discourse</a> on environmental policy.</p>
<p>After Blue Plant II aired, online searches for “dangers of plastic in the ocean” <a href="https://rapidtransition.org/stories/the-attenborough-effect-and-the-downfall-of-plastics/">increased by 100%</a>. Michael Gove, UK environment secretary at the time, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/19/michael-gove-haunted-by-plastic-pollution-seen-in-blue-planet-ii">said</a> he was “haunted” by images of the damage done to the world’s oceans shown in the series and then introduced a series of proposals aimed at cutting plastic pollution. </p>
<p>However, there is <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-great-that-blue-planet-ii-is-pushing-hard-on-plastic-pollution-in-the-oceans-but-please-use-facts-not-conjecture-87973">no clear evidence</a> in the Blue Planet II sequence that the mother’s milk was actually contaminated with plastics. Imagery such as this can also promote the idea that plastic pollution is a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X20300266">problem far removed</a> from our everyday lives and that our actions, whether it be dropping plastic litter or engaging in local clean up initiatives, will have little effect. There is still <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/csp2.280?campaign=wolearlyview">no robust evidence</a> linking Blue Planet II to a sustained change in people’s behaviours.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-great-that-blue-planet-ii-is-pushing-hard-on-plastic-pollution-in-the-oceans-but-please-use-facts-not-conjecture-87973">It’s great that Blue Planet II is pushing hard on plastic pollution in the oceans – but please use facts, not conjecture</a>
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<h2>Sidelining issues</h2>
<p>The way in which the media presents the issue of plastic pollution can shape the preference for certain solutions and sidelines others. For instance, many people <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X20300266">believe</a> that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – a large collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean – is a solid mass. Framing the problem in this way assumes that plastic pollution can be removed from the ocean with the <a href="https://theoceancleanup.com/boyan-slat/">correct technology</a>.</p>
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<p>However, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0281596">scientists describe</a> the Great Pacific Garbage Patch as more akin to a “growing plastic smog” that does contain larger plastic items but is also composed of <a href="https://www.coastalpollutiontoolbox.org/112202/index.php.en">trillions of micro and nanoplastics</a> spread over large distances. </p>
<p>Experts <a href="https://hereon.de/innovation_transfer/communication_media/news/112329/index.php.en">point out</a> that technical fixes are not always the answer, particularly where plastic is spread over huge areas resembling a very thin “plastic soup”. In such cases, technical fixes are less practical, especially when considering the continuous addition of more plastic due to unchecked production. </p>
<h2>Power of media to set the agenda</h2>
<p>There is a <a href="https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(23)00497-9">growing consensus</a> advocating for investment in measures to curb plastic production, rather than investing in costly technical clean-up efforts. However, by emphasising the individual responsibility of consumers to, for example, avoid single-use plastics, media coverage can divert conversations away from reducing plastic production.</p>
<p>The connection between plastics and climate change, or the impact of plastics on global biodiversity loss, are also not often covered by the media as much as emotionally charged images depicting marine animals entangled in plastics.</p>
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<img alt="Green sea turtle entangled in a discarded fishing net." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559908/original/file-20231116-15-nvkm9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559908/original/file-20231116-15-nvkm9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559908/original/file-20231116-15-nvkm9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559908/original/file-20231116-15-nvkm9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559908/original/file-20231116-15-nvkm9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559908/original/file-20231116-15-nvkm9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559908/original/file-20231116-15-nvkm9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Green sea turtle entangled in a discarded fishing net.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/green-sea-turtle-entangled-discarded-fishing-783912829">Mohamed Abdulraheem</a></span>
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<p>The original focus of the global plastics treaty was on marine litter, but it now encompasses the full life cycle of plastic pollution on all ecosystems. This includes plastic pollution in the atmosphere, and in marine, terrestrial and high altitude environments. This wider scope opens up the opportunity to <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-prisms-plastics/article/global-perceptions-of-plastic-pollution-the-contours-and-limits-of-debate/DB3F2AF3F0A176C73CBF6CC9576713D3">explore public perceptions</a> of the full life cycle of plastics.</p>
<p>The media is an invaluable resource that can play a key role in shaping how people perceive various issues. However, while it can effectively highlight the dangers of plastic pollution, there is a risk that an excessive reliance on emotive imagery may distract away from the policy that is actually needed. </p>
<p><em>In response to this article, a BBC spokesperson said that there is significant scientific evidence that contaminants found in some plastics can accumulate in fish and be ingested by adult whales. Those contaminants are then passed on to the offspring through the mother’s milk.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216854/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lesley Henderson receives funding from UKRI/NERC/Innovate UK/ GCRF/ European Space Agency.</span></em></p>Media coverage of the dangers of plastic pollution can distract from what is actually needed, says an author.Lesley Henderson, Chair professor, University of Strathclyde Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1145442019-04-17T14:18:38Z2019-04-17T14:18:38Z‘Climate Change – The Facts’: the BBC and David Attenborough should talk about solutions<p>Guardian journalist George Monbiot wrote a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/07/david-attenborough-world-environment-bbc-films">damning critique</a> of the BBC and Sir David Attenborough’s wildlife documentaries in late 2018, arguing that they do little to illustrate the huge environmental issues faced by the natural world.</p>
<p>Since then, Attenborough has adopted a much stronger position. He spoke at both the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/03/david-attenborough-collapse-civilisation-on-horizon-un-climate-summit">UN Climate Summit</a> and the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/david-attenborough-transcript-from-crystal-award-speech/">World Economic Forum</a> in Davos, and used his platform to highlight the threats of climate change.</p>
<p>Embarking on a new collaboration, Attenborough and the BBC are set to confirm their position in a one-off documentary entitled <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/exclusive-bbc-one-show-first-primetime-film-climate-change-since-2007">Climate Change - The Facts</a>, airing on April 18. The 90-minute film will explain the effects that climate change has already had and the disasters it might cause in future.</p>
<p>Although it’s crucial to raise awareness among the public about the impacts and threats of climate change, it’s equally important to explain how to fight it. That’s something the BBC has been more quiet about.</p>
<h2>Solutions to climate change</h2>
<p>The recent series Blue Planet Live featured a segment on the Great Barrier Reef in which it stated that coral bleaching is the result of climate change. That places the BBC in line with the <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/great-barrier-reef-at-unprecedented-risk-of-collapse-after-major-bleaching-event">scientific consensus</a>. The same episode later described the “heroic research” effort that is needed to save the world’s reefs from coral bleaching, and covered the capture and transfer of coral spawn to a new location. </p>
<p>However, science has already given the solutions to address this problem. Recent reports from the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a>, the <a href="https://www.ippr.org/research/publications/age-of-environmental-breakdown">Institute for Public Policy Research </a> and some of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/12/reusable-coffee-cups-are-just-a-drop-in-the-ocean-for-efforts-to-save-our-seas">our own research</a> all clearly indicate that tackling climate change and other environmental issues – including biodiversity loss, soil erosion and even ocean plastic pollution – requires major changes to society.</p>
<p>We need to <a href="https://www.tonyjuniper.com/content/beyond-capitalism-lecture-plymouth-business-school">revise our economic system</a> and its dependence on growth to prevent the unnecessary consumption of the world’s resources. As the youth climate strikes leader, the 16-year-old Greta Thunberg, clearly puts it, we need “<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-strikes-greta-thunberg-calls-for-system-change-not-climate-change-heres-what-that-could-look-like-112891">system change, not climate change</a>”. </p>
<p>In an era when schoolchildren are striking for climate action and radical proposals for climate action are <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-green-new-deal-is-already-changing-the-terms-of-the-climate-action-debate-112144">entering the political mainstream</a>, the BBC’s timidity towards even discussing solutions seems odd.</p>
<p>Covering these arguments is political but goes way beyond party politics and certainly wouldn’t breach <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/guidelines/impartiality">impartiality guidelines</a>. Audiences might understand that this isn’t as interesting as coral spawning being captured during a lightning storm, as was shown on Blue Planet Live. But if the BBC don’t address the solutions to climate change, then how can there be an educated public which understands that saving the planet <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-obsession-with-plastic-pollution-distracts-attention-from-bigger-environmental-challenges-111667">requires more than individual gestures</a> like carrying a reusable coffee cup?</p>
<p>There’s no doubt that Attenborough’s BBC documentaries have <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2019/04/11/attenborough-effect-leads-53-drop-single-use-plastic-12-months-9156711/">inspired millions of people around the world</a> to take environmental issues seriously. His programmes have encouraged many of our students to undertake degrees in environmental sciences.</p>
<p>Their insights into the natural world can present a sense of <a href="https://insider.si.edu/2017/04/argument-environmental-optimism-opinion-smithsonian-secretary-david-j-skorton/">environmental optimism</a> that promotes action. But failing to address the political and economic solutions necessary to stop climate change means the BBC could fail to respect its own <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/guidelines/bbc-editorial-values/charter-and-agreement">values</a> in education and citizenship. With their new documentary, Attenborough and the BBC should challenge our current economic system – only then can they fulfil their duty to inform the public with accuracy and impartiality.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/imagine-newsletter-researchers-think-of-a-world-with-climate-action-113443?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=Imagineheader1114544">Click here to subscribe to our climate action newsletter. Climate change is inevitable. Our response to it isn’t.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114544/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rick Stafford is a member of the Labour Party.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter JS Jones does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The BBC’s new documentary is a great opportunity to challenge our current economic system.Rick Stafford, Professor of Marine Biology and Conservation, Bournemouth UniversityPeter JS Jones, Reader in Environmental Governance, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/901362018-01-23T10:56:27Z2018-01-23T10:56:27ZFive ways the arts could help solve the plastics crisis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202862/original/file-20180122-182962-d4et0k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/plastic-waste-bottles-polyethylene-recycling-645904330?src=ZA4j3Nfqcvt5lx1KfkJn2w-1-55">Meryll/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is becoming more and more obvious that we need to drastically change how we use <a href="https://newplasticseconomy.org/news/ellen-macarthur-foundation-and-wrap-announce-new-initiative-to-transform-uk-plastics-system">plastics</a>. While we need improve our <a href="https://theconversation.com/four-tough-actions-that-would-help-fight-the-global-plastic-crisis-89798">recycling infrastructure</a>, we also need to help communities reduce plastic packaging waste and plastic litter.</p>
<p>The public is ready for change. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/42030979/blue-planet-2-how-plastic-is-slowly-killing-our-sea-creatures-fish-and-birds">Blue Planet II</a>, in particular, has brought the plastics crisis <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-great-that-blue-planet-ii-is-pushing-hard-on-plastic-pollution-in-the-oceans-but-please-use-facts-not-conjecture-87973">to public attention</a>. Since it was screened, over 500 articles on plastics have appeared in <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/blue-planet-2-save-oceans-what-to-do-how-pollution-climate-change-bbc-finale-a8100076.html">British national publications</a> alone. </p>
<p>And just as the Blue Planet II crew <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCEarth/status/929810441613832193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fnewsbeat%2Farticle%2F42030979%2Fblue-planet-2-how-plastic-is-slowly-killing-our-sea-creatures-fish-and-birds">described</a> how they “collected every piece of plastic they came across while filming”, these plastic waste stories have motivated some people to take action. People have proposed <a href="http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/15714256.Wirral_set_to_become_the_first_Merseyside_authority_to_ban_single_use_plastics/">bans on plastic products</a> or gone “plastic free” as a <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5094355/Mother-goes-plastic-free-week-saying-s-cheaper.html">household</a> or <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5230011/JANE-FRYER-village-scrapped-plastic.html">community</a>. Social media <a href="https://www.facebook.com/breakfreefromplastic/?hc_ref=ARSwwiTjQUfbAhaI2dIssU_2zcVESqHIOPRXctUbbjR3Y_-0v_fbA5nu6XzNOJVgaTs&fref=nf">campaigns</a> and petitions now lobby for change.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203022/original/file-20180123-182948-1veuf82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203022/original/file-20180123-182948-1veuf82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203022/original/file-20180123-182948-1veuf82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203022/original/file-20180123-182948-1veuf82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203022/original/file-20180123-182948-1veuf82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203022/original/file-20180123-182948-1veuf82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203022/original/file-20180123-182948-1veuf82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A dump stacked with plastics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dump-area-outside-city-781044388?src=t4vDmcuP3L5xBTcHAwkBjQ-1-57">MAX Vittawat/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<p>Yet the media stories with their <a href="http://www.chrisjordan.com/gallery/midway/#CF000313%2018x24">sad images</a> of death and choked seas can be overwhelming. Where to start? With a problem of this scale, it’s easy to feel as if individual and local actions won’t matter. Experts often tend to tell this kind of “science stories” to – not with – the public and this can compound the problem. The human stories behind the waste raise <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2018/01/11/criticisms-prepared-packaged-food-completely-ignore-thousands-people-uk-living-disability-7221575/">complex issues</a> of social inequality. People may feel preached at or harangued, as if they are obstacles, rather than partners for change. </p>
<p>Recognising these challenges, we began to research with the public to explore <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-good-news-about-plastic-waste-83742">creative ways</a> to change our relationship to plastics. </p>
<h2>Building plastic literacy</h2>
<p><a href="https://hackingplastic.wixsite.com/hackingplastic">Our group</a> held workshops in Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, last November. Participants were recruited by <a href="http://www.b-arts.org.uk/">B Arts</a>, a local arts charity. They were already interested in the plastic waste crisis and wanted to learn more. We offered them interactive displays, film clips, and – best of all – a chance to work with artists to make collaborative artworks using different kinds of waste plastic. </p>
<p>In these art sessions, people were puzzled by the tiny numbers on the bottom of bottles. These are the Resin Identification Codes, 1 through 7. The RIC doesn’t mean a product is always accepted for recycling, but it does tell you what material it is made of. By making artworks, people taught themselves about RICs. They found it easiest to model, cut, bend or make stuff with the highest-value, easiest-recycled plastics – RICs 1 and 2.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203021/original/file-20180123-182945-1j6ypr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203021/original/file-20180123-182945-1j6ypr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203021/original/file-20180123-182945-1j6ypr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203021/original/file-20180123-182945-1j6ypr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203021/original/file-20180123-182945-1j6ypr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203021/original/file-20180123-182945-1j6ypr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203021/original/file-20180123-182945-1j6ypr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203021/original/file-20180123-182945-1j6ypr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Resin Identification Codes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/plastic-resin-codes-239476555?src=z-U4xyahJBNAoUqR0YlGJQ-1-29">Norberthos/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>People found out that the same material (RIC code) could have different forms or textures. And that a large number of contemporary materials have plastics mixed into them as composites or have hidden layers of plastic inside, or they <a href="https://theconversation.com/ten-stealth-microplastics-to-avoid-if-you-want-to-save-the-oceans-90063">shed it in small amounts</a>, either as fibres or when they decompose. As people discovered that they could begin to spot both the easily recyclable and the less-recognisable plastics, they began to tell their own stories about plastic in images and words. </p>
<p>People want to develop their own expertise. They feel most knowledgeable – most “plastic literate” – and motivated to act when they make their own art, shoot their own images, and tell their own plastic stories themselves. Here’s how:</p>
<h2>Creative ways to edge out of the plastics crisis</h2>
<ul>
<li>Do your own “making” with waste plastic materials </li>
</ul>
<p>Nothing beats trying to make waste into something new to help people figure out how plastics differ. Whether it’s making models, junk modelling, making artworks, hands on work helps people learn what the RICs mean for the potential of the material to be reused. People come away with a better understanding of what materials they would want to avoid and why. And they learn which are collected by their local council and which can most easily be recycled into new products.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202140/original/file-20180116-53299-ua4ud.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202140/original/file-20180116-53299-ua4ud.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202140/original/file-20180116-53299-ua4ud.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202140/original/file-20180116-53299-ua4ud.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202140/original/file-20180116-53299-ua4ud.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202140/original/file-20180116-53299-ua4ud.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202140/original/file-20180116-53299-ua4ud.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Detail from junk-modelled plastic reef, ‘Play with Plastics’ @ B Arts, Stoke on Trent, November 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Deirdre McKay</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<ul>
<li>Tell your own plastics stories<br></li>
</ul>
<p>Imaginative exercises in telling the local stories of plastics – what they are used for, how they are valued, how they are discarded – gives people ownership of the local aspects of the plastics problem. Eliciting people’s own stories about how they use plastic at home, in school, and while travelling can be enabling. Having control over their story lets them spot where changes can be made without having someone preach to them.</p>
<ul>
<li>Visualise waste plastics </li>
</ul>
<p>Photographs and video of plastic waste and its effects in people’s own environment helps to personalise what they know. When they can incorporate their own knowledge of the materials and how to handle them responsibly, people are then happy to ask further questions and seek more information.</p>
<ul>
<li>Join the DIY community</li>
</ul>
<p>Making “plastic-free” replacement items for common plastics is a burgeoning field of DIY for crafty types. One participant suggested a follow up workshop to learn how to make beeswax-infused cloth “wraps” that could replace cling film. Our participants found advice on plastic-free DIY or “zero waste” creations – and shopping – online. There are numerous blogs and online shops, as well as new high-street stores, being set up to advise (and supply) people who want to go “plastic free”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202863/original/file-20180122-182945-jjtt5l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202863/original/file-20180122-182945-jjtt5l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202863/original/file-20180122-182945-jjtt5l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202863/original/file-20180122-182945-jjtt5l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202863/original/file-20180122-182945-jjtt5l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202863/original/file-20180122-182945-jjtt5l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202863/original/file-20180122-182945-jjtt5l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Stop seeing it as waste, start seeing it as raw material.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/plastic-bags-on-white-background-234017356?src=RgNNVdImLLNiV6gQnVfESg-1-64">daizuoxin/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<ul>
<li>Innovate new products</li>
</ul>
<p>The most advanced creative responses come from individuals and groups recycling waste plastic into new commercial products. They give a second life to materials that might go to landfill or incineration, or simply sit in storage, waiting for the market to improve. Recognising the innovators – even those working on bench-tops and garages – in our midst will help to create a knowledgeable market for items made from recycled plastics. </p>
<p>The global lessons of Blue Planet II need to be made local. By beginning with the materials themselves, then moving to people’s own stories, we can help people create, innovative and responsibly <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-future-of-plastics-reusing-the-bad-and-encouraging-the-good-87001">reuse</a>, reduce or replace plastics in their everyday lives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90136/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The science is clear but to improve plastic literacy, we need the arts. Here’s why.Deirdre McKay, Senior Lecturer in Geography, Keele UniversityEva Giraud, Lecturer in Media, Communication & Culture, Keele UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/889752017-12-11T15:12:48Z2017-12-11T15:12:48ZOcean plastic: clean it up, but avoid the mistakes of global climate policy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198563/original/file-20171211-27705-k8sw22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fotos593 / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In early December 2017 the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi announced a resolution on marine litter and microplastics. The move was <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-42252233">widely welcomed</a> as the emerging “plastic oceans” crisis has become starkly clear. </p>
<p>It is estimated that 8m tonnes of plastic waste finds its way in to the ocean each year, and it is notoriously difficult to remove. The impacts are increasingly apparent: great rafts of plastic are congregating in ocean gyres, blame games have broken out between <a href="http://us.blastingnews.com/curiosities/2017/11/honduras-blames-guatemala-for-creating-a-plastic-island-002192511.html">neighbouring countries</a>, and marine species face <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2012.12.010">poisoning</a> from the associated toxins.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"939958274761293825"}"></div></p>
<p>There may even be direct risks for humans, especially the 400m or so poor people who <a href="http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/365/1554/2869">depend critically on fish for their food</a>. As yet fisheries are more threatened by over-exploitation and climate change, but we are now finding plastics in our marine ecosystems and even in food like <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2014.06.010">mussles and oysters</a>.</p>
<h2>Timely – but not binding</h2>
<p>Given the urgency of the problem, a more decisive global leadership is needed and so the UN’s announcement is certainly timely. Its <a href="https://papersmart.unon.org/resolution/index">resolution on marine litter and microplastics</a> is the first genuine global attempt to tackle the problem. It aims to eliminate marine litter in the long term, urging counties to take action by 2025, to “prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds” and “encourages” them to “prioritise policies” that “avoid marine litter and micro plastics entering the marine environment”. Among other promising points, an international working group will be set up to seek legally binding options to tackle marine litter, and it is encouraging to see that <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/chile-oman-sri-lanka-south-africa-join-cleanseas-campaign-against">almost 40 countries have signed up</a> to the voluntary <a href="http://www.cleanseas.org/">#CleanSeas campaign</a> since its launch in February 2017.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"939953845215645696"}"></div></p>
<p>The elephant in the room here is the lack of any binding targets. Under pressure from key players like the US, China and India, UNEP has backed off putting in targets or binding commitments, although it was reported that the US was at least <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/un-ocean-plastic-waste-resolution-us-china-india-reject-pollution-sea-united-nations-environment-a8095541.html">engaged in the discussions</a>. It is worth noting that <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/347/6223/768">China is the biggest emitter</a> of plastic marine litter and along with the US and India has a very large <a href="http://www.plasticseurope.org/Document/plastics---the-facts-2016-15787.aspx?FolID=2">plastic manufacturing</a> sector.</p>
<h2>Alarming parallels</h2>
<p>There are alarming parallels with the past two decades of attempts to tackle climate change. Evidence that greenhouse gases emitted by human activities were causing more energy to be trapped in our atmosphere has been increasingly clear <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/">since the mid 1990s</a>, but vested interests combined with the need for equitable treatment of developing countries means that progress has been painfully slow – <a href="https://www.enca.com/technology/climate-target-too-low-and-progress-too-slow-top-scientist">so slow</a> that it will now be much harder to stay within the 2°C limit that scientists view as potentially manageable for future generations. Even now, while the evidence is clear and the impacts are painfully apparent round the world, the US <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/12/04/u-s-mayors-sign-pact-track-progress-paris-agreement/920305001/">has backed out</a> of the 2015 Paris agreement.</p>
<p>But we are are capable of better. In the 1970s and 80s we faced another major environmental threat. Pollutants used in refrigerants (chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs for short) were damaging the ozone layer, which acts as a protective screen from the worst of the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Alarm bells were ringing as skin cancers increased, and scientists predicted a catastrophe within decades. </p>
<figure> <img src="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/indy100/gJb52FyvNe/4WDmeh.gif"><figcaption>The ozone hole peaked in 2006 and has since been brought under control (gif: NASA)</figcaption></figure>
<p>That time, despite the now-familiar lobbying and stalling by industry, who argued that the science was uncertain and that more evidence was needed, the world got together. The <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/0he9/montreal-protocol-ozone-treaty-30-climate-change-hcfs-hfcs/">Montreal Protocol</a> was agreed in 1987 and since then the harmful chemicals have been phased out or managed more effectively. We have seen the ozone layer recovering towards pre-1980s levels and, in a positive unintended consequence, the phasing out of chemicals that are also potent greenhouse gases.</p>
<p>We humans have a mixed track record. The recovering ozone layer shows that we can, if we have the will and the leadership, get to grips with even the <a href="http://lexicon.ft.com/Term?term=wicked-problem">most wicked of environmental problems</a> and turn things round. But, as our attempts to deal with climate change have shown, progress can be slow and getting everyone working together remains fraught with difficulty.</p>
<p>We should not forget that plastics have revolutionised our lives – I am typing this on a plastic keyboard, for instance, while wearing a plastic fibre fleece, and looking through plastic lenses in my glasses. Any change will be tough and could have economic consequences. </p>
<p>But however important plastic seems to our lives, we depend even more on the health of the oceans for our well-being and for that of the planet. Right now attempts to get the world together to deal with plastic waste and ocean pollution are at a crossroads; at least it’s good news we have made it this far.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88975/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Malcolm David Hudson receives funding from the Blue Marine Foundation for research into microplastics and marine biodiversity. He is a member of Greenpeace, RSPB and the UK Wildlife Trusts</span></em></p>We should look instead at the successful fight to save the ozone layer.Malcolm David Hudson, Associate Professor in Environmental Sciences, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/886542017-12-05T15:01:03Z2017-12-05T15:01:03ZSea lions have unique whiskers that help them catch even the fastest fish<p>Astounding footage of Galapagos sea lions hunting was perhaps the highlight of the latest <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09hs07h">Blue Planet II</a>. For the first time ever, these marine mammals were filmed working as a pack to drive tuna fish in to shallow, rocky waters where they could be caught. Yellowfin tuna are typically able to outswim all predators but the fastest sharks and marlins, yet the much slower sea lions were able to outsmart them thanks to an amazing display of movement and cooperation.</p>
<p>I’ve studied these animals for years as I’m fascinated by their remarkable whiskers. So what is it about sea lions that makes them such excellent hunters? Here are three of their key adaptations:</p>
<h2>Superb sensing</h2>
<p>One of the things you can see clearly in the Blue Planet II footage is just how quickly the sea lions respond to the movements of the fish. They are able to sense exactly where the fish are and react almost instantly, in order to herd them towards shallow waters.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"937414375576690688"}"></div></p>
<p>Sea lions have amazing senses that allow them to detect fish, even in murky underwater environments. Like many predators, their eyes point forward so that they can easily focus on their prey. They can also open their pupils really wide to let <a href="http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/z97-838?journalCode=cjz#.Wiaizk27LIU">lots of light in to their eye</a> which helps them to see clearly underwater.</p>
<p>However, sea lions aren’t always blessed with the clear waters of the Galapagos coastline. In really murky environments, sometimes vision is just not good enough. For this reason, sea lions primarily rely on their sense of touch, using their super-sensitive whiskers to feel exactly where the fish are in the water. When fish swim around they leave little waves, or wakes, behind them. Sea lions are able to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00359-010-0594-5">detect these wakes and follow them</a>, just by using their whiskers.</p>
<p>Most mammals have facial whiskers (humans are unusual in that regard) which, when cut in cross-section, are circular. But sea lion whiskers are oval. Research has shown this is the best shape to <a href="http://blogs.plos.org/everyone/2013/09/10/whisker-shape-and-orientation-help-seals-and-sea-lions-minimize-self-noise/">sense the speed and direction of the wakes</a> while minimising the vibrating “noise” created by the sea lion’s own swimming. </p>
<p>At around 30cm, these are the longest whiskers of all mammals. They can move them backwards and forwards. Much like we use our finger tips for touch, sea lions can <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/BF03199008">sweep their whiskers over objects</a> to feel their size, shape and texture. These same skills mean those in the wild can find the biggest and tastiest fish, just by touching them with their whiskers. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"916216480294981632"}"></div></p>
<p>Sea lions communicate using various “barks”, grunts and growls, especially when they are hunting as a group. They have ears that are able to pick up sounds both above and below water. However, their ears are very small, so they can still be super streamlined in the water.</p>
<h2>Quick moving</h2>
<p>This streamlining means the sea lions are able to move quickly and efficiently through the water. Front flippers are used to push themselves along, while back flippers are used for steering. They’re able to chase fish at speeds of <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=McNEUgU8Q58C&pg=PA7&dq=sea+lion+swimming+speeds&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQ9JWajvPXAhVGUhQKHRmRA2cQ6AEIMjAC#v=onepage&q=sea%20lion%20swimming%20speeds&f=false">around 25mph</a> but are flexible enough to quickly change direction.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197810/original/file-20171205-22982-5g4b2e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197810/original/file-20171205-22982-5g4b2e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197810/original/file-20171205-22982-5g4b2e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197810/original/file-20171205-22982-5g4b2e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197810/original/file-20171205-22982-5g4b2e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197810/original/file-20171205-22982-5g4b2e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197810/original/file-20171205-22982-5g4b2e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197810/original/file-20171205-22982-5g4b2e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fishing in the Galapagos.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">JS Lamy / shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sea lions use their whiskers to guide these fast changes in direction. For example, captive sea lions who have learned to balance balls on their noses have been shown to move their whiskers ahead of their heads to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00359-014-0931-1">sense and control the ball</a>. During swimming, they use their whiskers in a similar way and move their whiskers ahead of a full turn, so the whiskers are constantly scanning the space that the head and body are about to move in to. This also means that the whiskers constantly face towards the fish that the sea lion is trying to catch.</p>
<h2>Clever cognition</h2>
<p>As well as their amazing sensing abilities and quick movements, sea lions are also very clever and display many behaviours that we often only associate with humans. For instance, they are one of the only animals able to <a href="https://pinnipedlab.ucsc.edu/publications/pub_155_2013.pdf">bob their heads along to a piece of music</a>. They are also very quick to learn new behaviours, which is why they are so common to see in zoo and aquarium displays.</p>
<p>Indeed, the group hunting footage, shows the sea lions are not simply reacting to the fish, but acting out a complex series of well thought out behaviours.</p>
<p>Hunting together can increase the chances of getting more prey when there are large groups of fish. Usually sea lions hunt together by herding fish in to tight balls and picking off the individuals around the edges. Sea lions seem to know when it is good to hunt together, and usually do so when prey is abundant. They tend to hunt individually <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article-abstract/47/2/195/904157">when prey is scarce</a>.</p>
<p>The remarkable footage from Blue Planet II really reveals what fantastic predators sea lions are. Their whisker-sensing strategies, quick acrobatic movements, and clever cognitive abilities make them ideally suited to hunting speedy fish like tuna.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88654/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robyn Grant receives funding from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. She works for Manchester Metropolitan University, in collaboration with Blackpool Zoo.</span></em></p>Blue Planet II reveals what fantastic predators they are.Robyn Grant, Senior Lecturer in Comparative Physiology & Behaviour, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/879732017-11-23T12:10:31Z2017-11-23T12:10:31ZIt’s great that Blue Planet II is pushing hard on plastic pollution in the oceans – but please use facts, not conjecture<blockquote>
<p>Must we always talk for victory, and never once for truth, for comfort, and joy – Ralph Waldo Emerson.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>On Sunday night we gasped in awe at the latest stunning images of marine life in BBC’s marvellous Blue Planet II. Blue sharks dodged great whites to scavenge on oceanic carrion; a baby turtle took its chance to shelter on some remote piece of driftwood; albatrosses sadly caressed one another as their final chick took flight; spinner dolphins, yellowfin tuna and giant rays raced for the spoils of a giant bait ball; sperm whales dozed vertically then plunged to unfathomable depths to feed. For the fourth week running it was jaw dropping stuff. </p>
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<p>In the final set piece, narrator David Attenborough’s tone changed – as it does when he has bad news. He showed us grim images of a turtle tangled in plastic debris, a beautiful tropical fish sheltering among our waste, and most heartbreaking of all, a mother pilot whale unable to let go of her long-dead infant as the rest of her family grieved. </p>
<p>“Today in the Atlantic waters they have to share the ocean with plastic. A mother is holding her newborn young – it’s dead,” he said. </p>
<p>Attenborough’s wise voiceover described the sadness of the great cetaceans, and the threat of plastic waste to top predators, and showed us more plastic debris. He then returned to the grieving giants: “The mother’s milk may have been contaminated by plastics.”</p>
<p>This had a big impact. The Daily Telegraph headline “Shocked Blue Planet viewers vow never to use disposable plastic again after heartbreaking whale scene” <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/20/shocked-blue-planet-viewers-vow-never-use-disposable-plastic/">captured the reaction of many</a>. And the message boards buzzed on Twitter: </p>
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<h2>Conflict</h2>
<p>I know the messages – researchers have shown there could already be <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0111913">over five trillion pieces of plastic</a> in the ocean; that by 2050 there could be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/19/more-plastic-than-fish-in-the-sea-by-2050-warns-ellen-macarthur">more plastic than fish</a>; that our oceanic giants are becoming islands of garbage; that birds are starving as they fill their guts with plastic waste; that microplastic is in our seafood. I wanted to stand up and say “Yes, that’s it, that’s what we need!” but the scientist in me held me back. </p>
<p>In the whole sequence, there was no direct link made between the death of the baby whale and the plastic debris we saw in parallel footage; no evidence that its mother’s milk actually contained contamination from plastics. Nothing. </p>
<p>My inner environmentalist convulsed with frustration at wildlife being killed by unnecessary human waste, but my inner scientist screamed foul at the lack of direct evidence shown on the programme. </p>
<p>BBC Wildlife <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5100643/Blue-Planet-II-slammed-linking-plastic-dead-whale.html">has been criticised before</a> for passing off footage of captive animals as hard-won material taken in the wild. I have no problem with that if the facts are right and it makes striking educational TV, but this time it was fake – the linkages between the dead whale and plastic pollution were at best circumstantial. So I faced a dilemma: should I add to the clamour to restrict our wasteful use for plastic and to clean up our oceans, or call out the questionable editing and lack of facts?</p>
<p>I chose to call it out via a personal tweet and it was picked up by a number of different media (Mailonline, the Daily Telegraph, The Sun). I certainly didn’t want to be sucked into any wider agendas that are more about bashing the BBC, but I still had a point. </p>
<p>Paul Jepson, a wildlife population health specialist based at the Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society London, mounted a defence. He said the plastic and toxic chemicals <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/plastic-pollution-is-killing-whales-7w32nv90g">are capable of killing young whales</a> and added that studies show the UK’s orca population, for example, has failed to breed successfully for 25 years, which correlates with that period’s high levels of contaminants. </p>
<p>“We already know that some chemical pollutants can cause the death of a new born calf,” he said. However, he also added that the camera team were unable to perform an autopsy on the calf featured in the programme. It’s a shame Attenborough’s voiceover couldn’t have articulated the right evidence to cut through the emotive presentation. </p>
<p>In the end, I’d rather not have found myself writing this article as I didn’t want exposing the production fakery to become the story. In fact, it seems that it hasn’t – the bigger story about plastic pollution has prevailed as the headline. Besides, we really do need emotive images and heart-rending story lines to impress on everybody the urgency of the plastic pollution issue. </p>
<p>The UK government has at least started to inch forward, but a <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/microbeads-ban-bill-uk-cosmetic-products-government-outlaws-microplastics-a7852346.html">promised ban on microplastics</a> seems to be in the long grass. Other governments have moved forward, for example <a href="https://thecostaricanews.com/2021-costa-rica-will-be-first-country-eliminate-single-use-plastics/">Costa Rica</a> and <a href="http://www.colombopage.com/archive_17B/Sep01_1504246030CH.php">Sri Lanka</a>, who are already pressing on with restrictions on disposable (“single use”) plastic. Meanwhile, at least in his Budget, the chancellor, Philip Hammond, got as far as confirming that the government will launch a call for evidence on a “tax system” for single use plastics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/tax-plastic-takeaway-boxes-the-scourge-of-the-oceans-87818">such as food packaging</a>. We are, however, less clear <a href="https://ciwm-journal.co.uk/autumn-budget-hammond-confirms-single-use-plastics-tax-30m-tackle-waste-crime/">on the timescales</a> for any action.</p>
<p>So urgent action is needed and we need to keep up the pressure with good evidence. Please BBC, and Attenborough (long may he reign!), keep educating, keep going beyond the brilliant images and story lines into the big issues. Powerful environmental documentaries like Blue planet II can change views on the big environmental issues; just please use truth and scientific evidence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87973/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Malcolm David Hudson receives funding from the Blue Marine Foundation for research into microplastics and marine biodiversity. He is member of Greenpeace.</span></em></p>The impact of plastic on the ocean is heartbreaking but the science must be watertight to convince everyone that we need to change.Malcolm David Hudson, Associate Professor in Environmental Sciences, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/872862017-11-14T17:05:03Z2017-11-14T17:05:03ZBlue Planet II: can we really halt the coral reef catastrophe?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194605/original/file-20171114-26420-cx13ne.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A vanishing world.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The third episode of the BBC’s <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b09g4d98/blue-planet-ii-series-1-3-coral-reefs">Blue Planet II</a> spectacularly described a series of fascinating interactions between species on some of the most pristine reefs in the world. These reefs, analogous to bustling cities, are powered by sunlight, and provide space and services for a wealth of marine life. </p>
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<p>Competition is rife, as exemplified by the ferocious jaws of the metre-long bobbit worm, ready to pounce on unsuspecting fish by night from its lair in the sand, or the pulsating show of colours of the cuttlefish as it stalks a mesmerised crab. Other reef species team up in unlikely partnerships to improve the outcome of a hunt for fish amongst the coral, as shown by the pointing display of an octopus working in cahoots with a grouper.</p>
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<p>Inevitably, the episode described how these cities are under threat, as warming oceans destroy the symbiotic relationship between the corals and the algae living within them, causing the corals to lose their algae, and become <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_bleach.html">bleached</a>. </p>
<p>Prolonged bleaching leads to the death of the colonies that build the reef, leaving behind lifeless ruins. Since 2014, an unprecedented series of consecutive warming events driven by <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/climate">climate change</a>, have affected many reefs, including the Australian <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21707">Great Barrier Reef</a>, and annual bleaching is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep38402">predicted</a> to become more frequent, leaving no time for the reefs to recover between these extreme events. In the last scenes, narrator David Attenborough provides a glimmer of hope as he describes corals and other reef species spawning on mass to produce new generations of life to build new reefs.</p>
<h2>What’s really going on?</h2>
<p>The producers understandably visit the best and most pristine reefs in the world to capture these wonderful sequences. We must remember that the majority of coral reefs, especially those close to large human populations, are already degraded due to localised impact from over and <a href="http://www.wri.org/resources/charts-graphs/reefs-risk-overfishing-and-destructive-fishing">destructive fishing</a>, nutrient <a href="http://www.reefresilience.org/coral-reefs/stressors/local-stressors/pollution/">run off</a> from urban and agricultural land, and <a href="http://www.reefresilience.org/coral-reefs/stressors/local-stressors/coastal-development/">coastal development</a>.</p>
<p>The most severely threatened reefs are in South-East Asia and the Atlantic, but even the Indian Ocean, Middle East and wider Pacific are now suffering from direct human impact. Estimates indicate that 75% of the world’s reefs are <a href="http://www.wri.org/our-work/project/reefs-risk">already threatened</a> by local threats combined with rising sea surface temperatures and mortality from coral bleaching. </p>
<p>Even the remote reefs of the central Indian Ocean and north-west Pacific are now weakened, and vulnerable to disease. Assuming current trajectories, by mid-century bleaching episodes are predicted to be annual events affecting most reefs, and by the end of the century, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels will have changed ocean chemistry causing acidification, weakening the calcium carbonate skeletons of corals and <a href="http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-085610">slowing their growth</a> . In their weakened state, these corals reefs will be further compromised by more frequent tropical storms and rising sea levels.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194606/original/file-20171114-26426-1hstik5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194606/original/file-20171114-26426-1hstik5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194606/original/file-20171114-26426-1hstik5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194606/original/file-20171114-26426-1hstik5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194606/original/file-20171114-26426-1hstik5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194606/original/file-20171114-26426-1hstik5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194606/original/file-20171114-26426-1hstik5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A reef resident.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC</span></span>
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<p>Resilient reefs may have some ability to resist climate change and adapt to the changing conditions or recover from these disturbances. Corals in the <a href="http://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789400730076">Gulf</a> experience high seasonal temperatures of up to 35°C without bleaching, having adapted to these conditions over evolutionary time, although sustained high temperatures, such as those as experienced in 2010, can still cause them <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278719626_Geomorphology_and_Reef_Building_in_the_SE_Gulf">to bleach</a> . </p>
<p>Some corals grow in near shore murky waters, where they may receive protection from high solar irradiation; even cloudy conditions can protect corals during warming events. Strong water currents and upwelling may also mitigate bleaching on seaward reefs. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194608/original/file-20171114-26448-v5asjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194608/original/file-20171114-26448-v5asjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194608/original/file-20171114-26448-v5asjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194608/original/file-20171114-26448-v5asjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194608/original/file-20171114-26448-v5asjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194608/original/file-20171114-26448-v5asjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194608/original/file-20171114-26448-v5asjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The future? A lifeless reef ruin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Calm conditions, on the other hand, appear to enhance bleaching susceptibility. The remote and protected reefs of the Chagos Archipelago in the central Indian Ocean experienced 90% mortality in shallow waters in the severe warming event of 1998. They displayed a relatively rapid recovery over 12 years compared to many other reefs with rapid growth of branching and tabular corals. But consecutive warming events in 2015, 2016 and 2017 have <a href="http://opensi.si.edu/index.php/smithsonian/catalog/book/170">devastated the shallow</a> (less than 15 metres deep) reefs of these uninhabited and isolated reefs once more, and recovery may be more challenging this time. </p>
<h2>What can be done?</h2>
<p>Coral recruits can already be observed, probably from slightly deeper depths, but they are settling on dead collapsing colonies and will be washed off the reefs in storms. Successful recolonisation may depend on the availability of stable substrates and being able to compete with the algae that is replacing the live coral.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194607/original/file-20171114-26448-1f8i5a2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194607/original/file-20171114-26448-1f8i5a2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194607/original/file-20171114-26448-1f8i5a2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=960&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194607/original/file-20171114-26448-1f8i5a2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=960&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194607/original/file-20171114-26448-1f8i5a2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=960&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194607/original/file-20171114-26448-1f8i5a2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1206&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194607/original/file-20171114-26448-1f8i5a2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1206&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194607/original/file-20171114-26448-1f8i5a2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1206&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A Bobbit worm lurks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC</span></span>
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<p>Although global action is required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (and this will have little effect until mid-century), management intervention at a local level can build resilience on reefs by reducing direct human impact. In a <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12047/full%5D(http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12047/full">study in Belize</a>, localised fishing was controlled in a Marine Reserve in which grazing of algae by parrotfish was maintained, halving the rate of reef decline. </p>
<p>By maintaining the organisation and complexity of reefs, we can ensure that these reef cities thrive, even in the most threatened regions. </p>
<p>At the end of the Blue Planet II reef episode, thousands of groupers gathered at the drop off on a pristine and remote reef in French Polynesia, risking gatherings of hundreds of sharks to swim out into the tidal stream to spawn. </p>
<p>Off the Cayman Islands, in the central Caribbean, similar groups of spawning Nassau grouper were once heavily exploited by local fishers but are now legally protected. Acoustic techniques have been used to show that they are now once more gathering in their <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00338-017-1542-4">thousands to spawn</a>.</p>
<p>As Blue Planet II made clear, our planet’s reefs are both beautiful and in peril. We do, however, still have time to save them – but only if we act now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87286/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Turner receives funding from DEFRA Darwin Initiative and Bertarelli Foundation, and is a Trustee of the Chagos Conservation Trust</span></em></p>It is estimated that 75% of the world’s coral reefs are already threatened.John Turner, Professor & Dean of Postgraduate Research, Bangor UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/847342017-11-09T11:24:43Z2017-11-09T11:24:43ZUnless we regain our historic awe of the deep ocean, it will be plundered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193598/original/file-20171107-1017-1vsenhn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC Blue Planet</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the memorable second instalment of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04tjbtx">Blue Planet II</a>, we are offered glimpses of an unfamiliar world – the deep ocean. The episode places an unusual emphasis on its own construction: glimpses of the deep sea and its inhabitants are interspersed with shots of the technology – a manned submersible – that brought us these astonishing images. It is very unusual and extremely challenging, we are given to understand, for a human to enter and interact with this unfamiliar world.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/nov/06/blue-planet-ii-years-most-watched-tv-show-david-attenborough">most watched</a> programme of 2017 in the UK, Blue Planet II provides the opportunity to revisit questions that have long occupied us. To whom does the sea belong? Should humans enter its depths? These questions are perhaps especially urgent today, when <a href="http://www.nautilusminerals.com/IRM/content/default.aspx">Nautilus Minerals</a>, a mining company registered in Vancouver, has been granted a license to extract gold and copper from the seafloor off the coast of Papua New Guinea. Though the company has suffered some setbacks, mining is still scheduled to begin in <a href="https://www.seeker.com/worlds-first-deep-sea-mining-venture-set-to-launch-in-2019-2327856967.html">2019</a>.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193603/original/file-20171107-1041-1l1olkz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193603/original/file-20171107-1041-1l1olkz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193603/original/file-20171107-1041-1l1olkz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193603/original/file-20171107-1041-1l1olkz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193603/original/file-20171107-1041-1l1olkz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193603/original/file-20171107-1041-1l1olkz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193603/original/file-20171107-1041-1l1olkz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Blue Planet’s team explore the deep.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC/Blue Planet</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This marks a new era in our interaction with the oceans. For a long time in Western culture, to go to sea at all was to transgress. In <a href="http://www.theoi.com/Text/SenecaMedea.html">Seneca’s Medea</a>, the chorus blames advances in navigation for having brought the Golden Age to an end, while for more than one Mediterranean culture to travel through the Straits of Gibraltar and into the wide Atlantic was considered unwisely to tempt divine forces. The vast seas were associated with knowledge that humankind was better off without – another version, if you will, of the apple in the garden.</p>
<p>If to travel horizontally across the sea was to trespass, then to travel vertically into its depths was to redouble the indiscretion. In his 17th-century poem <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50697/vanity-i">Vanitie (I)</a>, George Herbert writes of a diver seeking out a “pearl” which “God did hide | On purpose from the ventrous wretch”. </p>
<p>In Herbert’s imagination, the deep sea is off limits, containing tempting objects whose attainment will damage us. Something like this vision of the deep resurfaces more than 300 years later in one of the most startling passages of Thomas Mann’s novel <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/book-of-a-lifetime-doktor-faustus-by-thomas-mann-1778006.html">Doctor Faustus</a> (1947), as a trip underwater in a diving bell figures forth the protagonist’s desire for occult, ungodly knowledge.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193605/original/file-20171107-1011-172act0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193605/original/file-20171107-1011-172act0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193605/original/file-20171107-1011-172act0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193605/original/file-20171107-1011-172act0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193605/original/file-20171107-1011-172act0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193605/original/file-20171107-1011-172act0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193605/original/file-20171107-1011-172act0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An early diving bell used by 16th century divers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diving_bell_noaa.jpg">National Undersearch Research Program (NURP)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mann’s deep sea is a symbolic space, but his reference to a diving bell gestures towards the technological advances that have taken humans and their tools into the material deep. Our whale-lines and fathom-lines have long groped into the oceans’ dark reaches, while more recently deep-sea cables, submarines and offshore rigs have penetrated their secrets. Somewhat paradoxically, it may be that our day-to-day involvement in the oceans means that they no longer sit so prominently on our cultural radar: we have demystified the deep, and stripped it of its imaginative power.</p>
<p>But at the same time, technological advances in shipping and travel mean that our culture is one of “<a href="http://www.bmcf.org.uk/2011/11/22/finding-a-cure-for-sea-blindness/">sea-blindness</a>”: even while writing by the light provided by oil extracted from the ocean floor, using communications provided by deep-sea cables, or arguing over the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13442735">renewal of Trident</a>, we perhaps struggle to believe that we, as humans, are linked to the oceans and their black depths. <a href="http://www.frontiersin.org/files/Articles/128166/fmars-02-00003-HTML/image_m/fmars-02-00003-g002.jpg">This wine bottle</a>, found lying on the sea bed in the remote Atlantic, is to most of us an uncanny object: a familiar entity in an alien world, it combines the homely with the unhomely.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193804/original/file-20171108-14205-65gqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193804/original/file-20171108-14205-65gqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193804/original/file-20171108-14205-65gqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193804/original/file-20171108-14205-65gqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193804/original/file-20171108-14205-65gqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193804/original/file-20171108-14205-65gqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193804/original/file-20171108-14205-65gqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wine bottle found in the deep North Atlantic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Laura Robinson, University of Bristol, and the Natural Environment Research Council. Expedition JC094 was funded by the European Research Council.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Deep trouble</h2>
<p>For this reason, the activities planned by Nautilus Minerals have the whiff of science fiction. The company’s very name recalls that of the underwater craft of Jules Verne’s adventure novel <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/164">Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas</a> (1870), perhaps the most famous literary text set in the deep oceans. </p>
<p>But mining the deep is no longer a fantasy, and its practice is potentially devastating. As the <a href="http://www.deepseaminingoutofourdepth.org/wp-content/uploads/accountabilityZERO_web.pdf">Deep Sea Mining Campaign</a> points out, the mineral deposits targeted by Nautilus gather around hydrothermal vents, the astonishing structures which featured heavily in the second episode of Blue Planet II. These vents support unique ecosystems which, if the mining goes ahead, are likely to be destroyed before we even begin to understand them. (Notice the total lack of aquatic life in Nautilus’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OElwEL-pnDI">corporate video</a>: they might as well be drilling on the moon.) The campaigners against deep sea mining also insist – sounding not unlike George Herbert – that we don’t need the minerals located at the bottom of the sea: that the reasons for wrenching them from the deep are at best suspect.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OElwEL-pnDI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>So should we be leaving the deep sea well alone? Sadly, it is rather too late for that. Our underwater cameras transmit images of tangled fishing gear, cables and bottles strewn on the seafloor, and we find specimens of deep sea animals thousands of metres deep and hundreds of kilometres away from land with <a href="http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2015.00003/full">plastic fibres</a> in their guts and skeletons. </p>
<p>It seems almost inevitable that deep sea mining will open a new and substantial chapter on humanity’s relationship with the oceans. Mining new resources is still perceived to be more economically viable than recycling; as natural resources become scarcer, the ocean bed will almost certainly become of interest to global corporations with the capacity to explore and mine it – and to governments that stand to benefit from these activities. These governments are also likely to compete with one another for ownership of parts of the global ocean currently in dispute, such as the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/outofasia/2017/08/22/making-sense-of-the-south-china-sea-dispute/#67363f271c3b">South China Sea</a> and the <a href="http://www.sciencealert.com/this-map-shows-all-country-s-claims-on-the-arctic-seafloor">Arctic</a>. The question is perhaps not if the deep sea will be exploited, but how and by whom. So what is to be done? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193604/original/file-20171107-1046-lf2z8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193604/original/file-20171107-1046-lf2z8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193604/original/file-20171107-1046-lf2z8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193604/original/file-20171107-1046-lf2z8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193604/original/file-20171107-1046-lf2z8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193604/original/file-20171107-1046-lf2z8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193604/original/file-20171107-1046-lf2z8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A feather star in the deep waters of the Antarctic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC NHU</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rather than declaring the deep sea off-limits, we think our best course of action is to regain our fascination with it. We may have a toe-hold within the oceans; but, as any marine scientist will tell you, the deep still harbours unimaginable secrets. The onus is on both scientists and those working in what has been dubbed the “<a href="https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2013/mayjune/feature/the-blue-humanities">blue humanities</a>” to translate, to a wider public, the sense of excitement to be found in exploring this element. Then, perhaps, we can prevent the deep ocean from becoming yet another commodity to be mined – or, at least, we can ensure that such mining is responsible and that it takes place under proper scrutiny.</p>
<p>The sea, and especially the deep sea, will never be “ours” in the way that tracts of land become cities, or even in the way rivers become avenues of commerce. This is one of its great attractions, and is why it is so easy to sit back and view the deep sea with awed detachment when watching Blue Planet II. But we cannot afford to pretend that it lies entirely beyond our sphere of activity. Only by expressing our humility before it, perhaps, can we save it from ruthless exploitation; only by acknowledging and celebrating our ignorance of it can we protect it from the devastation that our technological advances have made possible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84734/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katharine Hendry has received funding for deep-sea research (non-commercial) from the European Research Council (starter Grant 678371 - ICY-LAB).
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laurence Publicover does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It seems almost inevitable that deep sea mining will open a new and substantial chapter of humanity’s relationship with the oceans.Laurence Publicover, Lecturer in English, University of BristolKatharine Hendry, Reader in Geochemistry, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/868692017-11-05T21:35:20Z2017-11-05T21:35:20ZI explored the Antarctic deep seas for Blue Planet II – and it was like going back 350 million years<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193216/original/file-20171103-1027-58xisr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Luis Lamar / BBC NHU</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“It has always been our ambition to get inside that white space, and now we are there the space can no longer be blank,” wrote the polar explorer Captain Scott, on crossing the 80th parallel of the Antarctic continent for the first time in 1902. Fast-forward more than a century – and the deep ocean floor around Antarctica still offers a “white space”, beyond the reach of scuba divers, only partially mapped in detail by sonar from ships and seldom surveyed by robotic vehicles.</p>
<p>So I jumped at the chance to join a team from the BBC on an expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula for Blue Planet II, to help them as a scientific guide. Thanks to the crew of the research ship Alucia, we dived in minisubmarines to 1km deep in the Antarctic for the first time. And while we didn’t face anything like the physical hardships endured by early polar explorers on land, those dives did give us the opportunity for some unique science.</p>
<p>The deep ocean around Antarctica is a special place for several reasons. Because Antarctica is pushed down by the weight of its ice sheets, the submerged continental shelf around it is deeper than usual, around 500-600m deep at its edge rather than 100-200m deep. It’s also cut by even deeper channels close inshore, some plunging more than 1km, scoured out by larger ice sheets in the past. So although the continent itself is remote, we can reach the deep ocean close inshore here – handy for us diving in minisubmarines, despite the need to dodge icebergs.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193215/original/file-20171103-1014-ho9lkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193215/original/file-20171103-1014-ho9lkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193215/original/file-20171103-1014-ho9lkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193215/original/file-20171103-1014-ho9lkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193215/original/file-20171103-1014-ho9lkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193215/original/file-20171103-1014-ho9lkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193215/original/file-20171103-1014-ho9lkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193215/original/file-20171103-1014-ho9lkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Giant sponges found in the deep waters of the Antarctic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC NHU</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There’s a gateway to the deep for marine life here too. Some deep-sea animals come into much shallower depths than usual around Antarctica, because the water temperature near the surface is similar to the cold temperatures elsewhere in the deep ocean. And in the past, shallow-living ancestors of some deep-sea animals spread out across the deep oceans from the Antarctic, via this cold gateway between the shallows and the deep.</p>
<p>One of my favourite animals that we saw on dives was the octopus <em>Graneledone antarctica</em>, whose ancestor ventured down from the shallows around 15m years ago, when the water temperature at the surface cooled to the same chilly temperature as the deep. Her descendants then spread out across the abyss like wagon-train pioneers, giving rise to several different species of deep-sea octopus found around the world today. Some stayed behind, however, becoming the species that we saw.</p>
<p>The ocean around Antarctica is also the lungs of the deep. Much of the life-giving oxygen in deep waters across the world begins its journey from the atmosphere here. As seawater freezes around the white continent in winter, it leaves behind very cold and salty water that sinks and flows into the depths of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans – even the deepest water in the ocean, at the bottom of the Marianas Trench 14,000km away, came from here. As this deep water flows out from the Antarctic, it carries oxygen, dissolved from the atmosphere at the surface. So the Antarctic is where the world’s deep oceans breathe in – and its waters are among the most oxygen-rich on our planet.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"926559618540515328"}"></div></p>
<p>Another of my favourite animals from our dives takes advantage of those oxygen-rich waters: giant sea-spiders, with legspans up to 40cm across. Sea spiders <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/07/sea-spiders-pump-blood-with-their-guts-not-their-hearts/533088/">lack a respiratory system</a>, which usually limits their size, but can grow much larger in the oxygen-rich conditions here.</p>
<h2>‘Ancient ocean ecosystems’</h2>
<p>Diving in the Antarctic is also a journey back in time, to glimpse what ancient ocean ecosystems were once like. Fish dominate as predators in most marine ecosystems today, but few fish species can cope with the -1.5°C conditions where we were diving. The “ice dragonfish”, <em>Cryodraco antarcticus</em>, is a notable exception, however, and another of my favourite animals – with antifreeze proteins that stop its blood from icing up. Its blood is also clear, without any of the oxygen-carrying haemoglobin that gives ours its red colour – in the cold waters, enough oxygen dissolves directly in the fluid of the fish’s blood to keep it alive.</p>
<p>But there are few fish with remarkable adaptations like the ice dragon, and so invertebrates have diversified to dominate as predators in the deep ocean here, just as they did throughout the oceans more than 350m years ago. A final favourite from our dives epitomises that: the Antarctic sunstar <em>Labidiaster annulatus</em>, which is a relative of the familiar five-armed starfish. Nicknamed “the Death Star” by those inside the subs who watched its behaviour, it has up to 50 arms and grows larger than a dinner plate. It uses those arms like fishing rods, holding them up off the seabed to snag passing krill, thanks to tiny pincers on its skin that snap shut when anything brushes past them. Unlike other starfish, <em>Labidiaster</em> can wave its arms to catch prey here because there are relatively few predatory fish to chew them off.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193212/original/file-20171103-1011-ysygn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193212/original/file-20171103-1011-ysygn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193212/original/file-20171103-1011-ysygn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193212/original/file-20171103-1011-ysygn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193212/original/file-20171103-1011-ysygn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193212/original/file-20171103-1011-ysygn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193212/original/file-20171103-1011-ysygn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193212/original/file-20171103-1011-ysygn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A feather star dances in the deep waters of the Antarctic Sound.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC NHU</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Overall, seeing the deep Antarctic sea floor close-up from our minisubs should help us to understand how “dropstones” shape the pattern of life here. “Dropstones” are car-sized boulders that fall from passing icebergs – they provide “islands” of rocky habitat for filter-feeding species which otherwise don’t get a look-in on the soft mud of the Antarctic seafloor. But where the dropstones settle depends on the undersea terrain. As we found on our dives, they slide down steeper undersea slopes, actually scraping off marine life. But if you’re at the bottom of a gully, then lots of dropstones end up there, giving a major boost to local biodiversity. That pattern of life is hard to see from samples collected by nets or trawls in the past, so our first minisub dives to 1km deep in the Antarctic should help to make that “white space” no longer such a blank.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86869/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jon Copley was a scientific adviser for BBC Blue Planet II, and also receives research funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council.</span></em></p>Few fish can survive in these freezing waters, so invertebrates are the dominant predators.Jon Copley, Associate Professor in Ocean Exploration & Public Engagement, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/865562017-10-31T09:19:18Z2017-10-31T09:19:18ZBlue Planet II: is the ocean really the ‘largest habitat on Earth’?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192472/original/file-20171030-18683-1sxxeqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">robert_s / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“The ocean: the largest habitat on Earth” – those words, spoken by Sir David Attenborough at the start of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_38JDGnr0vA">“prequel” to Blue Planet II</a>, capture the scope, focus, and justification for the BBC Natural History Unit’s latest landmark series. </p>
<p>Over the past two years I’ve been a scientific adviser on some of the topics covered in a couple of episodes, while <a href="https://theconversation.com/blue-planet-academic-consultants-on-the-message-that-humanity-cannot-afford-to-ignore-86157">colleagues at the Open University</a> have been academic partners for the whole series. And lines like that in the prequel can certainly be a head-scratcher for academics like us who fact-check these programmes. </p>
<p>The oceans cover 71% of the surface of the Earth, so seafloor provides the largest area for those species that move about on or are rooted to our planet’s surface – a reasonable justification for the “largest habitat on Earth”. But what about lifeforms that aren’t confined to dry ground or the seabed, those that can swim, fly, drift in wind or currents, or even thrive below the planet’s surface? </p>
<p>The average depth of the ocean is <a href="https://tos.org/oceanography/assets/docs/23-2_charette.pdf">3,682 metres</a>, so taking 71% of the Earth’s surface with that average depth gives us an estimated volume of 1,332 million km³ for the oceans. And there is life swimming or drifting throughout that vast volume, even to the bottom of the deepest trenches nearly 11km beneath the waves.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192475/original/file-20171030-18689-crz1kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192475/original/file-20171030-18689-crz1kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192475/original/file-20171030-18689-crz1kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192475/original/file-20171030-18689-crz1kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192475/original/file-20171030-18689-crz1kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192475/original/file-20171030-18689-crz1kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192475/original/file-20171030-18689-crz1kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192475/original/file-20171030-18689-crz1kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Weird and wonderful creatures at the bottom of the ocean.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/oceanexplorergov/2532127732">Kevin Raskoff / NOAA</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These trench-dwellers are not the deepest lifeforms on our planet, however, as a “subsurface biosphere” of microbes permeates even further into the Earth’s crust. There are microbes living <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/349/6246/420">2.5km below the ocean floor</a>, for example, in coal-bearing sediments. The depth limit for such subterranean life depends on local geology, however, and even assuming a limit of 2.5km all around the world gives us a “subsurface biosphere” of around 1,275m km³. That’s smaller than the oceans, and furthermore not all that volume is habitable, as the microbes are squeezed into spaces within the rocks. </p>
<p>There are also microbes in atmosphere above our heads, living in water droplets and on ice crystals in thunderclouds, up to an altitude of at least 12km. But before we imagine a layer 12km high for microbial life in the skies, it’s worth remembering that they need a watery environment in which to thrive. Only around 0.4% of our atmosphere is water vapour, so the aerial habitat for microbial life is much smaller than we might think.</p>
<p>What about the aerial habitat for birds, bats, flying insects, and tiny animals? Bar-headed geese may fly at an altitude of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-high-flying-geese-treat-the-himalayas-like-a-rollercoaster-36270">more than 8km in the Himalayas</a>, but they don’t actually fly 8km above the ground – they follow the terrain of the mountain range as they migrate over it. So it may be wrong to assume a layer 8km high for the aerial habitat of animal life around the world, as there are few mountains rising to those heights.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192476/original/file-20171030-18735-9g912r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192476/original/file-20171030-18735-9g912r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192476/original/file-20171030-18735-9g912r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192476/original/file-20171030-18735-9g912r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192476/original/file-20171030-18735-9g912r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192476/original/file-20171030-18735-9g912r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192476/original/file-20171030-18735-9g912r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192476/original/file-20171030-18735-9g912r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The high-flying Rüppell’s vulture.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cinematographer / shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In November 1973, however, an aircraft flying at an altitude of 11km over the Ivory Coast collided with a Rüppell’s Vulture, which holds the record for the <a href="https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/wilson/v086n04/p0461-p0462.pdf">highest known bird</a>. As this took place over the coast, with no mountains below, we might therefore assume a layer at least 10km high for animal life in the atmosphere, all over our world, which would give us an astonishing potential habitat of 5,100m km³ for airborne animal life. So at this point, our blue planet is perhaps starting look like a very airy one too.</p>
<h2>Oceans of microbes</h2>
<p>Where the ocean pips it, though, is in the abundance of life that it harbours. Microbes utterly outstrip animals and plants as the dominant form of life on Earth, in their individual numbers and total biomass, so it’s their abundance that matters here. And while living microbes are restricted to watery spots in the atmosphere, they face no such limitation in the ocean.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192477/original/file-20171030-18693-j490g7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192477/original/file-20171030-18693-j490g7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192477/original/file-20171030-18693-j490g7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192477/original/file-20171030-18693-j490g7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192477/original/file-20171030-18693-j490g7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192477/original/file-20171030-18693-j490g7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192477/original/file-20171030-18693-j490g7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192477/original/file-20171030-18693-j490g7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One fish, trillions of algae.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rich Carey / shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A single millilitre of surface seawater naturally contains around a million living bacteria and other kinds of single-celled microbes. Although that concentration drops off to perhaps 10,000 microbes per millilitre in most of the deep ocean, the total global population of microbes in the oceans is staggering: about <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v409/n6819/abs/409507a0.html">44 octillion living cells</a> (or 44,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 if you prefer). That number is literally beyond astronomical: it’s around ten thousand times <a href="http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Herschel/How_many_stars_are_there_in_the_Universe">the number of stars in the observable Universe</a>. So the oceans are certainly “the largest reservoir of life on Earth”.</p>
<p>Is that the same as “the largest habitat on Earth”? The oceans really contain lots of different habitats, of course, from lush kelp forests to huge expanses of open water. Blue Planet II celebrates that reality in its forthcoming episodes, exploring places such as sunlit coral reefs and bizarre deep-sea brine pools, so I’m comfortable with that “largest habitat” shorthand in its opening line. After four years of work by a small army of producers, camera people, sound recordists, editors, researchers, organisers, ship crews, minisub pilots, and scientific advisers, it’s time to immerse ourselves in the wonder – and realise how we are connected to that vast reservoir of life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86556/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jon Copley was a scientific adviser for BBC Blue Planet II, and also receives research funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council.</span></em></p>A new way to think about this common statement.Jon Copley, Associate Professor in Ocean Exploration & Public Engagement, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/861572017-10-27T15:43:53Z2017-10-27T15:43:53ZBlue Planet academic consultants: the message humanity cannot afford to ignore<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192245/original/file-20171027-13298-1uj7qns.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.bbcpictures.co.uk/">BBC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As expected, the first episode of Sir <a href="https://www.biography.com/people/david-attenborough">David Attenborough’s</a> <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04tjbtx">Blue Planet II</a> has been greeted with rapturous applause. But alongside the gasps of delight at the beauty of the natural world, the programme came with an urgent message for viewers which we can no longer afford to ignore.</p>
<p>Produced by the BBC’s <a href="https://www.bbcstudios.com/teams/the-natural-history-unit/">Natural History Unit</a> in partnership with the <a href="http://www.open.ac.uk/about/main/">Open University</a>, and narrated by the world’s favourite natural historian, the series revisits The Blue Planet after a gap of 16 years.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192250/original/file-20171027-13355-8drj6g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192250/original/file-20171027-13355-8drj6g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=654&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192250/original/file-20171027-13355-8drj6g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=654&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192250/original/file-20171027-13355-8drj6g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=654&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192250/original/file-20171027-13355-8drj6g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=821&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192250/original/file-20171027-13355-8drj6g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=821&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192250/original/file-20171027-13355-8drj6g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=821&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Natural historian Sir David Attenborough, the 91-year-old presenter of Blue Planet II.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.bbcpictures.co.uk/">BBC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The series does what the BBC’s Natural History Unit does best – films the natural world in a fresh and compelling way using the latest technology. Blue Planet II allows the audience to get up close and personal to an array of extraordinary creatures that depend on and harness Earth’s vast oceans for their survival.</p>
<p>From the depths of the abyss where sunlight is absent and the pressure immense, to the wild rapidly changing coast, viewers are introduced to a variety of habitats and privy to remarkable behaviours, some of which have never been filmed before.</p>
<h2>An ocean-going journey</h2>
<p>The series is based around five ocean habitats, exploring the world of the animals that live there and the threats they face. There are many filming firsts: the ingenious tusk fish which uses rocks as an anvil to smash clam shells; co-operative hunting between bottlenose dolphins and <a href="http://www.whalefacts.org/false-killer-whale-facts/">false killer whales</a>; as well as a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/shortcuts/2017/oct/23/giant-trevally-blue-planet-david-attenborough-ocean-wildlife">giant trevally</a> fish that hunts terns by plucking them out of the air. All that and sealions hunting as a co-ordinated pack, driving 60kg tuna into the shallows; as well as coral grouper and reef octopus hunting together and communicating using gestures – a behaviour usually associated with apes.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-pdlqV4fo68?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">BBC/YouTube.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are also behaviours that are new to science, such as an octopus that covers itself with shells to create a suit of armour to deter predators and female cuttlefish that flash a white stripe to indicate to amorous males an unwillingness to mate. Some of these uncovered behaviours demonstrate an intelligence that has been vastly underestimated. </p>
<p>As academic consultants on the series, we were captivated by the footage that leads viewers into this largely unexplored world from the perspective of the creatures that live there, capturing fascinating behaviour in exquisite detail.</p>
<p>But working on it also made us acutely aware how much humans and the planet stand to lose if we fail to recognise and acknowledge the negative impact we are having on the oceans. And it is this awareness which makes the timing of Blue Planet II so important. By revealing the awe-inspiring nature of the oceans in a way the audience can connect with emotionally, Blue Planet II raises critical awareness of the immediate threats facing our oceans and underscores what we stand to lose by ignoring them. </p>
<h2>The cost of global warming and pollution</h2>
<p>Scientific research now overwhelmingly demonstrates that the ocean is changing. Sea surface temperatures have <a href="https://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v6/n4/full/nclimate2915.html">increased</a>, levels of dissolved oxygen are <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v542/n7641/full/nature21399.html">declining</a>, sea water has become <a href="https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/What+is+Ocean+Acidification%3F">more acidic</a> and food supplies have <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2010/07/critical-ocean-organisms-are-disappearing">declined</a>. The consequences are uncertain in their details but the rapidity and breadth of changes means that they will be profound.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192252/original/file-20171027-13311-6knmqb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192252/original/file-20171027-13311-6knmqb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192252/original/file-20171027-13311-6knmqb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192252/original/file-20171027-13311-6knmqb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192252/original/file-20171027-13311-6knmqb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192252/original/file-20171027-13311-6knmqb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192252/original/file-20171027-13311-6knmqb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The twin evils of pollution and global warming threaten the delicate balance of our oceans, which will have profound consequences for sea creatures and their habitats.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.bbcpictures.co.uk/">BBC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Recent <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14682">research</a> suggests that more than half the world’s oceans could suffer these multiple effects of rising carbon dioxide level over the next 15 years. By mid-century it is possible that more than 80% of oceans could be affected, forcing its inhabitants to migrate, adapt, or in some cases, face extinction.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192282/original/file-20171027-13309-ppzkd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192282/original/file-20171027-13309-ppzkd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192282/original/file-20171027-13309-ppzkd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192282/original/file-20171027-13309-ppzkd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192282/original/file-20171027-13309-ppzkd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192282/original/file-20171027-13309-ppzkd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192282/original/file-20171027-13309-ppzkd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coral bleaching has afflicted two-thirds of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.bbcpictures.co.uk/">BBC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s happening already. Huge swaths of coral reefs around the world have <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_bleach.html">bleached</a> in recent years, and two-thirds of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-disaster-is-the-latest-harbinger-of-a-global-mass-extinction-57327">affected</a> by coral bleaching. Seagrass meadows, kelp beds and mangrove forests are some of the most productive habitats on earth, storing vast amounts of carbon – but are also some of the most threatened. In 2015 and 2016 the worst instance of <a href="https://theconversation.com/extreme-weather-likely-behind-worst-recorded-mangrove-dieback-in-northern-australia-71880">mangrove forest die-off</a> ever recorded occurred off the Australian coast.</p>
<p>And that is not all. The oceans are facing a major threat from pollution – by 2050 it is <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/by-2050-there-ll-be-more-plastic-than-fish-in-our-oceans">predicted</a> that without significant action there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish. It is estimated that between 4-12m metric tons of plastic makes its way into the oceans each year.</p>
<p>Nearly 700 marine species have been found entangled in plastic, and an increasing number – from microscopic plankton to whales – ingest it, compromising their ability to digest food, maintain body condition and give birth to healthy young. Persistent organic pollutants have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-discovered-pollution-poisoned-crustaceans-in-the-mariana-trench-72900">found</a> 10km down in the <a href="http://www.marianatrench.com/">Mariana trench</a>, and are ingested by organisms that live there.</p>
<p>This is the more serious message that the series addresses alongside its spellbinding footage, particularly in the final episode that explores the struggle many species experience in the face of environmental change caused by humans.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AZrCX52UsjE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">BBC/YouTube.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But, there is also a message of hope. Now we understand more fully the consequences of our actions we can act to stop or at least slow them. Some of the initiatives aimed at mitigating the damage humans have inflicted are highlighted in the final episode.</p>
<p>For example, overfishing in the 1950s resulted in the collapse of Norway’s herring stock, but better regulation and scientific monitoring has led to a spectacular recovery in numbers. Today, there is enough herring for both humans and the hundreds of humpback whales and orcas that feed on them. Ultimately though, keeping our oceans healthy and functioning properly will require bold leadership, motivation and coordinated effort on a global scale. </p>
<p>As Sir David Attenborough succinctly puts it: “For the first time in 500m years, one species has the future in its hands.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86157/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors would like to acknowledge Dr Pallavi Anand and Dr Mark Brandon of the The Open University, who also served as academic consultants on Blue Planet II.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Sexton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Besides wondrous creatures, new discoveries and spectacular filming, Sir David Attenborough’s follow up to The Blue Planet comes with a stark warning about the futureMiranda Dyson, Senior Lecturer in Biology, The Open UniversityPhilip Sexton, Senior Lecturer in Earth Sciences, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.