Ocean Facts • More than half the Earth’s population lives within 100 miles of the ocean • The ocean helps regulate weather around the Earth. • 50% of the world’s protein come from fish yet 90% of all the big fish in the oceans are gone. • We are fishing at a rate of more than 40% more than the oceans can sustain. • There is more biodiversity in a coral reef than the Amazon Rain forest, yet 40% of the coral reefs are now gone. • 90% of the pollution in the ocean comes from plastic. There are five swirling gyres of plastic in the ocean, the largest being twice the size the state of Texas in the Pacific. There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean. • Ocean acidification threatens extinction of thousands of species in the ocean • Climate Change is causing sea level rise which will damage ocean habitat, erode beaches, bleach coral reefs, and contaminate some coastal water supplies with salt water intrusion. It also increases hurricane risks. • There are about 400 Dead Zones in the Ocean, the largest about the size of the state of New Jersey. Fertilizer pollution is one of the major causes.
The Sustainable Tourism Courses at the USF Patel College of Global Sustainability study the 12 Blue Community strategies (www. bluecommunity.info). While these strategies are studied from the view point of what the tourism industry can do, there is also individual actions each person can take. Below are some of the ways you can make a difference. • Find ways to make your home more sustainable. Sustainable buildings reduce energy and water along with waste. • Walk, bike, or use mass transit when possible. This reduces energy use and development impacts. • Find ways to reduce your energy use to help mitigate climate change • Conserve water. The less water used the less run off into our oceans. • Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Refuse unnecessary waste and packaging when possible. Reduce the waste you generate, Reuse things when possible. Recycle what you can and dispose of other waste in environmentally safe ways. • Reduce your use of plastics. Use reusable water bottles, recyclable containers, and reusable bags at the grocery stores as examples of how to reduce plastics. • Choose organic foods that are not grown with harmful fertilizers and use not polluting fertilizers such as Tara Solutions if you grow your own food. • Only eat seafood if it is sustainable. Get the app Seafood Watch to learn more. • Volunteer at groups like the Tampa Bay Green Consortium, and Tampa Bay Watch to help protect and restore coastal habitat. • Be a responsible boater using cleaning and maintenance products that are less harmful to the oceans, and dispose of trash properly. Use marinas that are certified as clean marinas and / or encourage your marina to become certified. • Share ocean conservation information with your friends and family and educate yourself more on ocean issues. • Support legislators and laws that protect the ocean and the environment, and support ocean conservation groups like the Waves of Change campaign, Ocean Conservancy, Oceana, and Mission Blue.