World Oceans Day: Saving our seas from the threats facing them

(Vatican Radio) It was during his inaugural homily that Pope Francis made his first appeal for us to protect the environment. And when it comes to the environment of our planet, oceans play a vital role by providing most of the oxygen we breathe. They also are a major source of food and medicines and are a critical part of the biosphere. But in the past few decades the threats to our oceans from pollution, overfishing and other forms of exploitation have increased dramatically. That’s why the UN introduced World Oceans Day to raise awareness of the crucial role played by oceans and sea on our planet. This day is observed on June 8^th each year. Dr Peter Richardson is the Biodiversity Programme Manager at the Marine Conservation Society in the UK and he spoke to Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni.

Listen to the extended interview with Dr Peter Richardson:

Richardson says World Oceans Day is important because it provides his organization and similar ones with the chance “to highlight the problems our oceans and marine wildlife are facing.” In his view, our oceans are “under great threat from various human activities.”

He says people around the world need a wake-up call to realize the damage we are causing to the earth’s oceans and seas before it’s too late. “We need to take stock and do something about it before we destroy the oceans irreversibly.” Richardson says one of the biggest problems is over-fishing but there are other threats such as pollution, climate change and even marine litter such as plastic bags that exert a heavy toll on the lives and health of many sea creatures such as turtles, puffins, seals, whales, dolphins and others.