Blue planet

Arriving in the Namaqua National Park, things will now be quieter for the support team. We cannot really visit any towns or tourist attractions in this area.  The frenzy, restlessness and uncertainty colouring the first week, is behind us. We have a little more time to enjoy what we see and where we are, and to just breathe. As if we are finally settling into a certain rhythm.

As I listen to the ocean in front of me, hitting the rocks like thunder and than smoothly pulling away over a thousand shells, just to do it again in the next second, it calms me. Maybe it is this fixed rhythm of the ocean that gives us rest. The fact that we know our Lord even has his hand on the mighty ocean, lets the seasons change at the given time, control the waves rolling to the shore in a never-ending pattern. 

If you grew up near the coast, it has a hold on you and it keeps pulling you back. Ask any Capetonian living inland! There is something mysterious about the sea. It covers 71% of the earth's surface and it is the last part of our planet which we as human cannot completely measure and understand. It plays an enormous role in the earth's climate. And only recently it became clear to us why...

The oceans have a moderating effect as water stores 1000 times more solar heat than air and can slowly release it.  The upper 2,5m layer of the ocean stores the same amount of heat as all of the air in the atmosphere.  It also takes about 3200 times more energy to heat a given volume of water than air.  The enormous capacity of water to store heat results in temperature differences between the ocean and the atmosphere that cause winds and rain.

The cold water here down this coast causes less evaporation which in turn causes the low precipitation levels. It also is causing all the fog banks rising regularly from the ocean in the early morning.

The oceans are also home to living creatures.  And these creatures are at home in these waters that loom in front of us - sinister, dark and deep. The ocean is home to thousands of algae- and animal species, of which a large part we have not seen and named yet!

Because the saltwater contains almost 35 parts per 1000 salt (compared to the 3 parts salt per 1000 in freshwater) and because we cannot drink saltwater, we are mistakenly thinking that the ocean is some kind of extreme, dangerous and last resort habitat for living organisms. We cannot be more wrong!  Saltwater really stimulates and encourage all the organisms that live in it. Since the salt concentration in saltwater is almost the same as the salt concentration of living organisms' bodily fluids, the animals living in saltwater do not have problems with osmoregulation.  The salinity of the sea also rises the density of the water, which increases the buoyancy of the water. The water as medium is also the reason why gravitation does not have a real effect on aquatic plants and animals. Another positive for living in the sea, is the fact that the water temperature is almost always consistent and so over a large area. This way most aquatic plants and animals do not experience big temperature fluctuations, except those living in the inter-tidal zones between the ebb and flow mark.

Yet our oceans have also been under enormous pressure in the last century. 

Before, it was assumed that because the ocean was so big, vast and deep, that the effects of dumping trash and litter into the sea would only have minimal consequences. But as we have seen, this has proven to not be the case. While the oceans have suffered as a result of human consequence for over millennia by now, it has accelerated in the past few decades. Oil spills, toxic wastes, floating plastic and various other factors have all contributed to the pollution of the ocean.

Over one million seabirds are killed by ocean pollution each year. Three hundred thousand dolphins and porpoises die each year as a result of becoming entangled in discarded fishing nets, among other items. One hundred thousand sea mammals are killed in the ocean by pollution each year.

Each year half a ton of trash lands in the ocean. We cannot even begin to imagine the damage it has on the invertebrate in our oceans. To say nothing of the effect it may have on our climate in the coming years and decades.

The time has come that we realise that we cannot go on like this. We need stricter laws and regulations to prevent our oceans becoming the new dumping site of our modern society. 
Not because we are so worried about Mother Earth or the Blue Planet! But because the oceans with their vast size, their rhythms and diversity sing the praises of our Lord. Because we affect the honour of God by being so reckless.