Heal the Ocean

An oil tanker breaks up off the coast of Spain, contaminating beaches and killing over one hundred thousand birds. Colorful coral reefs turn a deathly white around the world. Six whales die in the Bahamas from bleeding near their ears after the Navy tests an active sonar system there. After so much bad news, people are thirsting for workable solutions to the oceans crisis.

Heal the Ocean provides a refreshing change in the literature by emphasizing success stories in the struggle to save the seas. The author—a marine ecologist dedicated to protecting and restoring ocean ecosystems—first describes the nature of ocean environments and then discusses current and emerging threats, including pollution, overfishing, poor land use, deep sea mining, and the search for new energy sources. Heal the Ocean then urges that we build upon efforts that have successfully countered such threats, including:

allowing natural processes to restore the San Francisco Bay and Delta
innovative wastewater treatment at Ecoparque, Baja, California
the world’s first scientifically designed marine reserve network in California’s Channel Islands
traditional stewardship of land and sea by native Hawaiians
economic incentives for sustainable fishing in Alaska
new international fishing agreements with teeth
shifting consumer demand to sustainable seafood
building constituencies for ocean conservation and creating a new ocean ethic using sophisticated social marketing and community-building techniques

Upbeat and inspiring, Heal the Ocean will appeal to professional environmental advocates, community leaders, opinion-shapers, and policymakers, as well as any citizen aspiring to protect the ocean.

Rod Fujita is a Senior Scientist with Environmental Defense, in Oakland, California. He has studied the ocean for over twenty years, logging hundreds of hours underwater studying ocean wildlife, as well as playing a key role in setting up marine reserves in the Florida Keys and the Channel Islands, California.