The causes of the coral’s demise are manifold, but they all come back to one culprit: us. Overfishing — especially the kind that uses dynamite or poison to kill whole schools of fish — destroys the coral directly, while polluted runoff from agriculture simply chokes them. Development in booming coastal economies from the Caribbean to Southeast Asia further threaten the delicate reefs. Tourism — in the form of diving and snorkeling — can also cause damage. As with so many other endangered species around the world, there doesn’t seem to be enough space for healthy coral reefs and unchecked human development. “It’s just a litany of bad actions,” says Brian Huse, the executive director of the Coral Reef Alliance. “Over the past 35 to 50 years, we’ve lost 25% of our reefs worldwide. Put it altogether, and you can see why.”
Sometimes ignorance is bliss, but our blindness is not forever. I was at the Beach several days ago with some friends, in which we saw a dead seal floating onto shore.
RIP Seal
A rare occasion and opportunity for all, we seized to take a glimpse. Ironically, I had my camera with me and snapped away as I watched its body bop back in the waves. The mood that day was somber, but for the guys, as you know boys will be boys; they can find a million of reasons to poke and prod a dead animal.
It amazes me that even in death, humans will desecrate a poor animal.
I am not entirely sure how the seal died but its eyes are missing. There are claw marks and a deep wound in between the hand flippers (the back end). My first assumption was that it had been killed by humans as those empty eye sockets are a bit suspicious to me.
From my observation, it has been dead for awhile since there was no blood present. A friend opted to inform the lifeguard on duty. The lifeguard informed him that there was nothing they can do and that they (lifeguards) will have to wait until the tides die down to pick up its carcass. We truly believe that was a translation for: “We don’t really care.”
Thankfully, a female bystander and my friend went in and pulled the seal onto shore instead of having its body roll back and forth into the sea. Still, the lifeguard did nothing to dispose of it.
Wound in between hand flippers
While it’s body laid roasted under the sun, sea gulls knew it was meal time. We watched sadly as the circle of life ensued in front of us.
I stood there sad and angry at humans. We are the reason for the demise of our own planet. We are ruining our ecosystem. We are the reason that animals are going extinct because we are taking their homes. We pollute. We are pests!
I was even more shocked observing the people that were getting close to it’s dead carcass as the young men kicked sand onto its body and laughed. Another was poking it. It is sad, that even in death, it cannot be respected.
If we cannot respect life, we sure cannot respect death. With the coral reefs facing extinction, I truly wonder what changes are in store. Will we open our eyes and be more respectful to nature? Or will we continue to live life as we do now– ignorantly blissful? Quite possibly the latter if we are not educated and exposed to it.
How many more species will die on our account?
