THE FRAGILE MARINE ECOSYSTEM
Fu Shiang Chia, Professor Emeritus, Biology & Dean Emeritus of Graduate Studies & Research, University of Alberta.
As a marine biologist, as a professor for forty years, I have taught in six universities on three continents before my retirement in 1996. I have visited many marine stations throughout the world and have indeed witnessed the change in marine ecosystems.
In 1951 when I was a freshman biologist in Taiwan, during our field trips to sandy beaches we saw numerous shore crabs and worms. We watched many fishermen returning to adjacent ports with abundant harvests. On the rocky shore there was always algae and eelgrass and numerous animals living within or under the plants. Upon visiting the same places two years ago all I saw were cement structures.
In 1961 when I was a Ph.D. student at the University of Washington in Seattle, my research subject was on the development of a six-armed seastar. At that time in many locations I was able to find 3 to 5 animals under the same rock. Last year, I went to one of the same places again and could not find a single animal.
In 1995 I was professor in Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; the campus is located at Clear Water Bay on the shore of the South China Sea and it was considered as a paradise in Hong Kong some time ago. During one of the very low tides I took my 2-year old grandson intending to show him the beautiful beach. What I saw on that day was abandoned furniture, plastic containers, condoms, sanitary pads and tampons. I was overwhelmed and felt insulted – a paradise lost.
Human footprints are on more than the seashore. In the water of open oceans there are floating man-made objects; I will never forget the beer bottles I saw 300 meters under the sea during my deep sea diving trip.
Osborne used Darwin’s evolution as the theme of her installation. Evolution is science, Lyndal’s installation is art, but both are motivated by curiosity and developed through imagination and creativity. Evolution means briefly that organisms adapt under pressure of changes (speciation by means of natural selection). Changes are either caused by nature such as the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland or human activities such as the current oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. There are other problems caused by the combination of nature and human activity such as drought, storms, etc. Natural change has been with us since the beginning of time, but man-made changes are new and intensifying every second. Living organisms have not had enough time to adapt and the only outcome is extinction.
Ocean acidification is an old problem but only recently has been seriously noticed. The ocean always has been considered as a carbon dioxide sink which can absorb a great quantity of carbon dioxide so to regulate the air quality. However excessive carbon dioxide can lower the ph value of the ocean. Minute changes in ph level can affect the life of animals and plants. Most vulnerable is the larval stage of many marine invertebrates and single cell plants. I am happy to report that the first centre to study ocean acidification in the world will be established at the Friday Harbour Laboratories, University of Washington.
One thing should be noted: that the changes of the primary producers (phytoplankton) can translate to the top predators, human, through food webs. Do we care about the consequences? Where is human wisdom?
April 2010
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