The Tragedy of Barren Seabeds

This is a fictional story. Let's not let art imitate reality.

The sea has a hypnotic effect on me. I can stare at the splash and crash of the waves for hours and not be bored at all. In fact, most of my inspired moments came to me while close to the sea or traveling over the sea. I imagine water nymphs jumping and tumbling around, ever in a perpetual state of play on the water's surface.

After reading "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" decades ago as a young teenager, I would pretend that mermaids with glistening hair and skin were swimming under every boat I rode. Until now, that image stays with me but, now I know that there are tens of thousands of far more interesting, fascinating, colorful, and majestic creatures living underwater.

It is easy to forget this truth, that beneath the waves, life actually exists. Under the water is a world a lot like the one above it. Just like dry land, the ocean floor has a terrain. Hillsides, mountain, valleys, and plateaus. Like every hillside and mountain, there are forests. Like every forest, there are creatures living within them.

But, just as we do on land, we also do in the sea. By some cruel design, humankind seems bent on bringing about selfish and wanton destruction. To what end? Don't ever forget that all this is not ours to have for eternity. When our time has come and the next generation arrives, is this what we will leave them -- barren seabeds, white and dead corals, empty seas? Will our children's children get to see the wildlife that once filled our waters only in museums?

Screencap of an endangered Cowrie shell being sold online

A dead coral is not pretty.

Did you know that, of the 500 known coral species in the world, 488 are found in the Philippines? Our coral reef system spans 27,000 square kilometers across our seabed from Batanes to Jolo. But now, only 1,000 square kilometers of coral reefs are still alive. That is only around half the size of Metro Manila.

I refuse to be part of the problem. Worse, part of a generation that didn't care.

We can't keep on waiting for the government to shape up and actually do its job. We can do something now. Let's save our seas.

Wouldn't you rather see our seas forever filled with these amazing creatures?

Photo of a Whale Shark by Kage Gozun