Altered Oceans

Rick Loomis

Los Angeles Times

The world's oceans are in peril. Runoff from modern life is feeding an explosion of primitive organisms. The 'rise of slime,' as one scientist calls it, is killing larger species and sickening people. In many places some of the most advanced forms of ocean life are struggling to survive while the most primitive are thriving and spreading. Fish, corals and marine mammals are dying while algae, bacteria and jellyfish are growing unchecked. In additon, we are choking the waters with plastics which do not effectively break down and are harmful to shore birds and marine mammals. The oceans, once thought to be so vast we could not do them harm, are suffering immensely from human impact. photo caption: A harmful algae bloom swept into King Harbor in Redondo Beach, Ca. and caused a massive fish kill. A few people who came in contact with the water blamed the bloom for ear infections, flu-like symptoms and other maladies.

Rick Loomis, "Altered Oceans," in POYi Archive, Item #45162, http://archive.poy.org/items/show/45162 (accessed November 22, 2024).