We have become frighteningly effective at altering nature.
SYLVIA EARLEI hope for your help to explore and protect the wild ocean in ways that will restore the health and, in so doing, secure hope for humankind.
More Sylvia Earle Quotes
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Green’ issues at last are attracting serious attention, owing to critically important links between the environment and the economy, health, and our security.
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It’s akin to using a bulldozer to catch a butterfly, destroying a whole ecosystem for the sake of a few pounds of protein. We wouldn’t do this on land, so why do it in the oceans?
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And there’s no question that it is a factor, but it’s preceded by the loss of resilience and degradation.
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It’s mainly the high-end luxury market now that drives much of the fishing in the sea. It’s not feeding the starving millions. It’s feeding a luxury market.
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Bottom trawling is a ghastly process that brings untold damage to sea beds that support ocean life.
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Places change over time with or without oil spills, but humans are responsible for the Deepwater Horizon gusher – and humans, as well as the corals, fish and other creatures, are suffering the consequences.
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Look at the bark of a redwood, and you see moss.
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Since the middle of the 20th century, more has been learnt about the ocean than during all preceding human history; at the same time, more has been lost.
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There are a few oysters in Chesapeake Bay. Half the coral reefs are still in pretty good shape, a jeweled belt around the middle of the planet. There’s still time, but not a lot, to turn things around.
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We wouldn’t be able to survive. We would have a hard time surviving if we were transported to the time when dinosaurs were around.
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America gains most when individuals have great freedom to pursue personal goals without undue government interference.
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Anything injured, or any unusual creature somebody found, they would always come to our doorstep.
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Every fish fertilizes the water in a way that generates the plankton that ultimately leads back into the food chain, but also yields oxygen, grabs carbon – it’s a part of what makes the ocean function and what makes the planet function.
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Far and away, the greatest threat to the ocean, and thus to ourselves, is ignorance. But we can do something about that.
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When I write a scientific treatise, I might reach 100 people. When the ‘National Geographic’ covers a project, it communicates about plants and fish and underwater technology to more than 10 million people.
SYLVIA EARLE






