Is your community located so far from the nearest coast that you simply don’t think about the ocean? Well, think again. Every single community in Canada is linked to the sea through the never-ending flow of water in streams, rivers, wetlands, ponds, and lakes. The Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic oceans hold us in their watery embrace. And almost everything you do in your corner of Canada can have an effect on ocean health.
Most water, whether clean or contaminated, eventually makes its way out to sea. If the water from your area is unhealthy, add it to the water flowing from thousands of other communities and, well, you get the picture. And think of the countless marine creatures that depend on the ocean as a place to live, grow, and raise their young.
Like the orca whales on the front of this poster, humans also need a safe, healthy environment in which to thrive. Take a peek at the list of ideas on what you and your community can do to help oceans, starting in your own city, suburb, or rural area. After all, Canada is an ocean community.
A Community of Whales
Orca whales, like the ones featured on this poster, are found in oceans throughout the world. In Canada, they exist primarily in the Pacific northwest. While there is only one orca species, there are at least two distinct populations — “transients” and “residents.” Recently, a third population, known as “offshores,” was discovered off the British Columbian and Alaskan coasts. Although these three groups share the same ocean space, their social habits, diet, range, and physical appearance differ. One way scientists can tell them apart is by their dorsal fins, which tend to be more pointed on transient than on resident orcas.
Orcas live in pods, clans, and communities. A pod consists of an orca mother, her young, and their extended family. Clans consist of different pods that share the same calls and form a distinct linguistic group. In British Columbia, resident orca pods form two communities— the southern resident community and the northern resident community. Each community acts as a support system for individual animals. In total, there are about 300 orcas within these two communities.
Orcas are very social animals. Many hours of intermingling occur among individuals and pods from the same or different clans. Although they are often referred to as “killer whales,” orcas are distinguished by cooperation, communication, trust, and acceptance — values we strive for in human communities.
What You and Your Community Can Do to Help Oceans
- Educate yourself! Learn more about marine ecosystems and the problems facing them.
- Get to know an ocean ecosystem, such as a kelp forest, rocky shoreline, delta, intertidal zone, or sandy beach.
- Clean up a local beach, river, wetland, or coastal area. Get involved in a school or community project to protect an aquatic ecosystem.
- Instead of spraying chemicals on lawns to deal with pests, try attracting toads! Just one of these modest amphibians can eat 1,500 earwigs in a single summer.
- Cut marine debris off at its source. Encourage local ports and marinas to provide accessible garbage disposal facilities. When you go boating or visit a shoreline or other wild area, take your trash back with you instead of leaving it behind.
- Organize an Oceans Day display or activity at your local community centre, library, or school.
- Use phosphate-free detergents and avoid using garden fertilizers. Phosphates and nitrates from these sources cause excessive algal growth, using up the oxygen needed by fish.
- Avoid disturbing sea birds and shorebirds, especially when they’re nesting.
- Let sea creatures be. Leave seaweed and shells where they lie.
- Let coral reefs be. Almost all marine fish, corals, and other saltwater animals sold for home aquariums come from the wild. For this reason, many reef species are in danger of extinction. Freshwater fish are a better choice because they’re usually bred in captivity.
- Post “No Dumping” signs alongside wetlands, lakes, and rivers to help protect sensitive aquatic habitats.
- Develop a community action plan to clean up local waterways.
- Take aquatic ecosystems into consideration in land-use planning.
- Encourage the establishment of marine protected areas. Get together with those who have a stake in protecting oceans — coastal communities, ocean resource users, and everyone else who cares about vulnerable marine habitats.
- Encourage your family, friends, and community members to dispose of household hazardous wastes, such as leftover paint, motor oil, car batteries, and solvent containers, at proper waste disposal sites. Discourage them from dumping these wastes down the drain or into ordinary landfills.
- Promote the proper disposal of hazardous wastes manufactured or sold by local companies. For example, a gas station could provide a motor oil recycling depot. Paint companies could offer a program to collect old cans and solvent containers.
How Well Do You Know Oceans?
- Canada borders on the
- Atlantic, Pacific, and Antarctic oceans
- Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic oceans
- Atlantic and Pacific oceans
- Oceans cover 71 per cent of the Earth’s surface.
- Plastic debris in our seas is a big problem because
- it isn’t biodegradable
- it can choke and strangle marine creatures
- it pollutes oceans and coasts worldwide
- all of the above
- Eighty per cent of marine pollution comes from land-based activities.
- The 200-nautical-mile limit is
- an ocean border that keeps foreign fishers out of our waters
- the longest distance a healthy bottle-nosed dolphin can swim in a single day
- a nautical boundary within which maritime nations control who uses ocean resources
- the point beyond which it is unsafe for windsurfers to sail
- Some unsustainable ocean activities are
- overfishing of marine species
- using cyanide and dynamite to harvest tropical marine fish and corals for aquariums
- discarding damaged fishing nets at sea, allowing them to trap and kill countless marine creatures
- all of the above
- Some activities that promote ocean health are
- reporting ocean polluters to the police
- not buying tuna unless it has been harvested in “dolphin-safe” nets
- raising awareness in your community about the importance of healthy oceans to all living things
- all of the above
Did You Know . . . ?
- Canada has the world’s longest coastline — all 243,792 kilometres of it!
- More than two-thirds of the world’s human population lives within 80 kilometres of the ocean.
- The average Canadian uses 370 litres of water per day!
- Nearly half of our largest cities are built on or around estuaries, where salt water and freshwater meet. Estuaries are important nurseries for two-thirds of all aquatic animals.
- Approximately 800,000 sea birds and 120,000 dolphins, whales, and seals are killed annually in drift-nets used for tuna and squid fishing.
- Draining and filling wetlands for agricultural use has destroyed 85 per cent of Canadian salt-marshes and freshwater wetlands.
- Some ocean trawlers could hold a dozen 747 airplanes in their nets at once.
- Salt-marshes produce almost three times as much plant life as the richest farmland. About 70 per cent of fish species spend part of their life cycle in coastal areas, including salt-marshes.
- Globally, people eat 80 to 90 million tonnes of seafood annually. Fish and shellfish are the world’s largest source of animal protein, surpassing beef, mutton, poultry, or eggs.
- Eighty per cent of ocean pollution is caused by human activities on land. Billions of litres of untreated sewage gush into waterways from cities and communities every year. Besides human waste, this raw sewage contains a profusion of toxic chemicals, grease, oil, plastic bags and other synthetics, rags, hair, and gravel.
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