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Open Pacific

By David Kattenburg

Here are sounds from a voyage undertaken with Marshall Islander Ben Chutaro and his friend Doug, way back in August 2007.

The idea had been to go visit Mili Atoll — I had been pressing Ben to take me there for ages, to see the marine/nature conservancy he was setting up — but weather ended up not permitting. We went to Arno instead.

The Marshall Islands lie just north of the Equator, smack dab in the middle of the Pacific. A little drop of Earth’s oceans — past, present & future.

Earth’s oceans are at risk, their immense biological diversity ceaselessly drawn upon by growing human populations.  A myriad of toxic and pathological agents contaminate our planet’s marine waters, whilst rising atmospheric CO2 and temperature levels alter her chemistry and physical behaviour.

Expert thoughts on the matter:

“As with terrestrial ecosystems, humankind has been expending the natural capitol of the Ocean with little restraint. Although concealed beneath the waves, the evidence of wholesale degradation and destruction of the marine realm is clear, made manifest by the collapse of entire fisheries and the growth of deoxygenated dead zones, for example. The cumulative result of our actions is a serial decline in the Ocean’s health and resilience; it is becoming demonstrably less able to survive the pressures exerted upon it, and this will become even more evident as the added pressures of climate change exacerbate the situation.”

International Programme on the State of the Ocean

Listen to this narrationless piece.

Cutting up sushi

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Cutting up sushi