Early on in this journal of our trip to the Southwest of the United States in 2023 I mentioned that I wanted to talk about 2 themes on the trip that are closely related. One is the decline of western civilization and the other is our need for a new attitude to nature. [see https://themeanderer.ca/2023-grand-finale-tour] I have not been posting much about the need for a new attitude to nature. I intend to start remedying that deficiency now.
In that earlier post I talked about a Professor at the University of Manitoba who influenced me a lot, even though I never took a course with him. A friend of mine did and I was jealous of that. In a video tape of one of his lectures in Ireland many years later, I heard him opining about humanities’ dysfunctional relationship to nature. This was professor John Moriarty and he likened humans to a virus on the planet.
Years later in Phoenix on another trip a few years ago, one day, when days when the weather was bad (there are very few of those here) we hang around reading or do something inside. Like going to an Aquarium. Phoenix has a wonderful one called “OdySea”.
We saw many sharks that day. We learned that they are not as dangerous or as vicious as legend would have it. They are not humans after all. The word “vicious” should likely be reserved for humans, not sharks. More people die from exploding champagne corks or falling out of bed than from shark attacks. In some years only 1 human was killed by a shark attack in the whole world. Who should be scared of whom? Yet it is sharks that we fear.
We also learned that sharks, like so much of life in the natural world are declining. We learned that shark fining accounts for the death of 75% of all sharks that are killed each year. Shark fining is the process whereby the fins of sharks are cut from their bodies while the sharks are alive because the harvesters do not want to bother transporting their heavy bodies. So usually they discard the sharks, which more often than not die a horrible death. They die of suffocation and blood loss in the water. Our species does not just kill sharks, we torture them! What other species does that?
The fins are used in shark soup. Mainly Asians enjoy such soups. In some cultures they are believed to have medical qualities. Others, like me, suspect that it is mainly superstition. Many Asians think eating something strong will make them strong. 75% of shark deaths each year are because humans think eating the fins will make them strong. And usually the death is horribly painful.
Where sharks are found they are apex predators Scientists have started to realize that apex predators are very important for ecosystems. They help maintain a balance with other predators and this helps to maintain biodiversity.
Some species in ecosystems are considered “keystone species.” That means that they are necessary to maintain the health of the ecosystem. Without the keystone species the entire ecosystem can collapse. Sharks keep smaller predatory fish under control and this helps to balance the biodiversity by preventing over population of any species. Mother nature usually knows best. Humans not so much.
Even though sharks have been around for 400 million years many species of sharks might be extinct within the next few decades. They can’t seem to live with us!
Of course, this is entirely consistent with the loss of all kinds of life. A recent Living Planet Index compiled by researchers at the WWF and the Zoological Society of London from scientific data, shows vertebrate populations are set to decline by 67% of 1970 levels unless urgent action is taken to reduce humanity’s impact. We are destroying life on the planet. And doing very little about it. That is the long and short of it.
That day at OdySea we also learned things about the ocean. Although we enjoyed watching the penguins (who wouldn’t) they posted information that like most other birds, penguins are in serious decline. The main causes are a decline due to a loss of nesting places and a loss of suitable food due to overfishing and pollution. In other words, we are the problem. The old story keeps coming back. As the cartoon character Pogo said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
In the movie called Dirt: The Movie a speaker pointed out that the biggest pest was us. He asked an amazing question, “If there was a United Nations of Organisms would we be voted off the planet?” Would earth reject our species as a virus just like our bodies reject viruses? It does seem appropriate doesn’t it?
Humans are the serial killers of the planet.
I think it is obvious. We need a new attitude to nature. The old one is bankrupt.