As land creatures, although we think we are only responsible for protecting and keeping clean the houses we build, in fact, protecting our given home, that is, our environment, is our greatest responsibility.
We all know very well that one of the most important needs of living beings is the need for shelter. A bright, covered, warm, and most importantly, clean environment is a necessity and even a right for plant and animal species, for all of us. How would you feel if this right was taken away from you by other living beings? As land creatures, although we think we are only responsible for protecting and keeping our built homes clean, actually protecting our granted home, that is, our environment, is our greatest responsibility. Not only land, but water and air ecosystems are also other ecosystems that make up our environment, and if our environment were an orchestra, the conductor of that orchestra would be the water ecosystem.So, among all those asymmetrical living beings, why are we, the ones who have achieved the best symmetry, neglecting our environment?**If We Were a Water Creature…**As everyone knows, oceans and seas host amazing creatures. Creatures that rely more on their sense of hearing than their sense of sight… We land creatures, who have been complicating the lives of these beings in the water for centuries, are not only the number one culprits for the waste we throw into the seas, such as plastics, cigarette butts, or the PET bottles we see on the water surface; we also endanger our neighbors' lives with the noise pollution we create. Isn't it interesting? Just as excessive exposure to noise adversely affects us physically and mentally, we should think about how it affects our friends in the water, who find their direction and prey with their sense of hearing.Marine pollution can be defined as the direct or indirect release of substances or energy into the marine environment by humans that harms the marine ecosystem, disrupts human health, hinders activities in the seas, including fishing, affects the quality of sea use, and reduces its value. Settlements and industrial facilities established along the coastlines, air vehicles, platforms and pipelines installed in the seas, ships, and marine vehicles are the main causes of marine pollution. At the same time, synthetic dyes; paper, textile products, plastics, cosmetic productsand they are indispensable parts of the products we consume due to their widespread use in the food industry, and they are among the major pollutants of our seas.Whales that have tons of plastic extracted from their stomachs, sea turtles that cannot eat because plastic is wrapped around their throats, and various endangered animals that mistakenly eat colorful plastic pieces thinking they are food break our hearts, but we are a species that still needs to make an effort not to throw our plastic and plastic-like waste into the sea despite having existed for about 300,000 years. According to the latest research, samples taken from the digestive systems and blood samples of marine creatures have shown plastic traces in almost 100% of sea turtles, 59% of whales, 36% of sea lions, 43% of marine mammals in general, and 40% of seabirds. Every year, 100,000 marine mammals and turtles and 1 million seabirds die due to plastic pollution. The biggest reason for the death of ocean creatures is eating plastics, but marine animals can also lose their lives by choking, contracting infections, or getting entangled due to plastics. Therefore, what we need to do is very simple: throw our waste into recycling bins, not into the seas or streets.If we were a marine creature, how could we stop these invasions?**Life in the Seas**The biological diversity in the sea depends on the efficiency and continuity of life, which is related to the amount of oxygen and heat in the water and the temperature of the water. The most critical part that determines these three physical aspects is the first few millimeters of the surface. The vast majority of oxygen in water comes directly from the atmosphere. Due to the higher amount of oxygen in the atmosphere compared to water, oxygen gradually dissolves in seawater and is distributed to different depths of the sea through currents. This exchange of oxygen between the atmosphere and the sea occurs at the surface of the sea. Zooplankton and phytoplankton, which are the lowest layer of the food chain in water, feed through photosynthesis. One of the essential elements for photosynthesis is...Due to sunlight, the less barrier that is placed in front of the sunlight entering the sea, the deeper the sunlight can penetrate. In other words, the clearer and cleaner the sea surface is, the deeper the sunlight can reach.Sea water temperature is also a very important factor in terms of ecological balance. Sea water derives its heat from both sunlight and the atmosphere. The sea surface in contact with the atmosphere absorbs the heat from it. The amount of this heat exchange depends on the cleanliness of the first millimeters of the sea surface. Pollution in the seas is most visible on the sea surface, and the excessive pollution observed in this area weakens the cooling capacity of the seas, disrupting the ecological balance in the sea that does not come into contact with air and sunlight. This leads to damage to life resources, threats to human health, impacts on fish stocks and marine activities such as fishing, and a decrease in marine species. However, fishing, which constitutes a large part of the economy of most coastal countries and even communities living far from the coast, will exist as long as we have our marine ecosystem.A small footnote: Fishing does not mean excessive and unintentional hunting.**Let's Raise Blue Flags**The Blue Flag is an award given to beaches and marinas that meet certain criteria set by the International Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), which operates in 44 countries, regarding the quality of water used for swimming, beach organization and safety, environmental management, and the guidance of environmental education and information activities. Beaches and marinas that meet these criteria are awarded the Blue Flag for one year and announced to the world via the internet by the International Foundation for Environmental Education. In 2020, as a result of evaluations made by the International Foundation for Environmental Education, our country ranked third with 486 beaches, while Spain ranked first. Our country deserves to be first in marine conservation.
