Backgrounder

Our Love of the Sea

Australians love the sea. The vast majority of our population lives on the coast. We rely on the sea for our recreation. We love going to the beach. We love the sea breeze which keeps us cool on a summer's day. We love the food that the sea provides for us. Seafood is on the menu in all homes and restaurants. One of our favourite fast foods is still fish and chips. Most of the oxygen we breathe is produced not by trees but by tiny algae floating on the world's oceans. It is as though Australians know that the sea is the source of life and are drawn to it. We take the sea and what it provides us for granted. This means that at times we do not take proper care of the sea and oceans. We dispose of our waste in the sea.

We take too many fish from the sea and reduce the fish stocks to unsustainable levels. We allow fertilisers to run off farms and pollute our oceans. The Great Barrier Reef is at risk of dying due to the stresses placed on it by pollution. Action is required in so many areas so that seas and oceans can continue to do their work of being a source of life.

On the 5 th of June we celebrate World Environment Day. This provides us all with an opportunity to think about the state of our environment, how we as individuals and societies affect our environment and what we can do to make a positive difference. The theme for this year is Wanted! Seas and Oceans-Dead or Alive?

This theme reminds us that the choices we make will have an effect on our environment in general and on our seas and oceans in particular. We need to make a choice. Do we want to keep our seas healthy and alive, able to be a source of life or do we allow pollution to kill our seas and oceans? This is an important issue for communities throughout the world who rely on the sea for their livelihoods.

Many of the world's poorest people rely on the sea for an important source of protein in their diets and as way to generate some income to pay for essentials like health services and education. All of us have a part to play in preserving the habitats of fish and other marine life so that stocks will not decline.

What we do on land also has an impact on our seas and oceans. Allowing rubbish, fertilisers and pesticides to run off into rivers and then the sea causes damage to sensitive marine environments like coral reefs, causing the habitats of untold species of marine life to be damaged or destroyed. Land clearing near the coast will also cause erosion and soil to run into the sea. Our reefs are being sacrificed due to poor or thoughtless practices on the coast. World Environment Day will give us an opportunity to think again and act to protect that which gives us life.

The seas and oceans of the world flow into one another and so what we do to our seas and oceans will affect people all around the world. The oceans connect us and join us together in a world community. We all need to do our part in making sure that our seas and oceans continue to live and in turn, give life to all of us. We want seas and oceans that are alive for ourselves and for future generations.

Teaching and Learning Activities

Science/Biology/Environmental Science/Geography

1. Go to response.restoration.noaa.gov/kids/expermts/one.html to do an experiment that helps to understand how oil spills affect the environment. There is also a link to an activity which looks at how difficult it is to remove oil from feathers.

2. Go to response.restoration.noaa.gov/kids/expermts/two.html to complete an activity which looks at the mixing of water and oil.

3. Go to response.restoration.noaa.gov/kids/expermts/sediment.html to do an experiment which looks at the effect of oil on beaches.

4. Go to www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/investigations/es0703/es0703page01.cfm?chapter_no=investigation to go through an interactive simulation with actual photos of the Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska . This was one of the worst oil spill disasters in the world. This site includes a list of questions which can be answered in students' exercise/note books.

Photo: Panorama Productions

5. Go to www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?pid=0&cid=4&id=229 and read about the effect that oil spills have on birds. Answer the following:

• How does oil get into the oceans?
• What happens to the birds that are covered in oil?
• How does oil kill birds?
• Why do the birds die of hypothermia?
• What happens when a bird tries to preen itself to clean the oil from its feathers?
• What types of birds are most at risk from oil spills?
• How many birds were killed in the Exxon Valdez disaster?

6. Go to www.oceansatlas.org/servlet/CDSServlet?status=ND0xODgwJjc9ZW4mNjE9KiY2NT1rb3M~ to read about the use of our oceans as a place to get rid of our waste. Answer the following:

• List the types of waste that is disposed of in our oceans.
• How can these activities have an impact down the food chain?
• Why is this problem like a disease that affects the "body" of the ocean?

7. Go to www.oceansatlas.org/servlet/CDSServlet?status=ND0xODc3Jjc9ZW4mNjE9KiY2NT1rb3M~ to read about coastal cities and towns and the pressure that they place on the marine environment. Answer the following:

• Why are so many cities in the world located on the coast?
• How many of the ten largest cities in the world are coastal?
• What proportion of the world's population lives close to the coast?
• List some of the environmental problems caused by so many people living on the coast?
• How does waste affect coastal environments?
• In what way is the attractiveness of living on the coast the "seed of destruction" of that coast?

8. Go to www.oceansatlas.org/unatlas_gifs/offsiteframe.jsp?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oceansatlas.org%2Funatlas%2Fabout%2F
knowledgeoftheoceans%2Fbackground%2Fseemore.html&ctn=2448&kot=* to read about the evidence of early explorers venturing upon the seas and oceans.

• What types of materials were used by ancient peoples to explore the marine environment?
• What did Tasmanian people use to make rafts?

9. Go to www.oceansatlas.org/servlet/CDSServlet?status=ND0yNDE5Jjc9ZW4mNjE9KiY2NT1rb3M~ to read about the right of all people to food security. What is meant by this term? How does the damaging of the marine environment threaten the food security of people around the world?

10. Go to www.bbc.co.uk/nature/blueplanet/games.shtml to explore the ocean environment by playing a variety of educational games or some that are just for fun.

11. Go to www.bbc.co.uk/nature/blueplanet/webs/explore.shtml to find out more about the creatures that make coral reefs home and then undertake the Web of Life challenge. This will demonstrate the intricate balance of a coral reef ecosystem.

Photo: Haba Dive

12. Want to find out a particular piece of information about the oceans and marine environment? Go to www.bbc.co.uk/nature/blueplanet/infobursts.shtml to click on the appropriate infoburst. This site has information on pretty much everything from currents, waves, thermal plumes, marine animals, reefs and the list goes on.

13. Go to www.oceanfutures.org/Nemo/index2.html for more information, activities and interactive games especially about coral reefs.

14. Go to www.national-aquarium.co.uk/interactive/water.asp which is an interactive site with sound which has a droplet of water who explains the water cycle.

15. Go to www.national-aquarium.co.uk/interactive/turtles.asp to do the interactive activity that looks at turtles in the Mediterranean Sea . This deals in a fun way with conservation issues related to turtles.

16. Go to pao.cnmoc.navy.mil/scripts/quizgen.exe ? to complete the general knowledge quiz about oceans. Check your answers.

17. Go to pao.cnmoc.navy.mil/educate/neptune/trivia/trivia.htm to collect trivia. Organise a game of "believe it or not" with these facts.

18. Go to pao.cnmoc.navy.mil/educate/neptune/quest/general/greenhou.htm to find out about the greenhouse effect. Explain how the greenhouse effect raises temperatures and water levels. What environmental impact will this have? How can we stop this from happening?

19. Ever wondered why the ocean is blue? Find out at pao.cnmoc.navy.mil/educate/neptune/quest/seawater/blue.htm

20. Go to www.unep.org/wed/2004/PhotoGallery/ to view images of aspects of seas and oceans.

21. Go to www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/20/1077072841007.html and read about the problems that the Great Barrier Reef is facing. What is the cause of the problem and what are the consequences for Queensland ?

22. More educational ideas can be found at www.mesa.edu.au/ideas.asp including a teaching unit on The Great Barrier Reef.

Parish and Community/social justice groups

1. Download a copy of the poster advertising World Environment Day in a variety of languages at www.unep.org/wed/2004/Downloads/index.asp#Posters

2.  Organise some activities to highlight World Environment Day such as:

• Recycling
• Encourage cycling to work or school
• Clean up the local environment or your school.
• Organise a tree and shrub planting day. Local Councils will often supply free plants to community groups.
• Join in a local bush regeneration project.
• Find out what activities are being planned near you and contact the groups for more information. Go to www.unep.org/wed/2004/Around_the_World/index.asp and scroll down to Asia and the Pacific to link up with activities in places like Bell 's Beach, Alice Springs , St Kilda, Nelson Bay and the Gold Coast.
• Write to your local member of parliament and ask what specific strategies the government has put in place to combat global warming.

3. Visit Earthcare at www.catholicearthcareoz.net/index.html for further information.