I was sitting in my kajak, counting –
1...2...3...4,5,6...7...8, 9, 10, 11, 12... Then I stopped counting. There were
jellyfish all around me! Small red ones which moved gracefully through the
Mediterranean sea, causing nice little burns if you came in direct contact with
them. Swimming was definitely not an option.
This summer there has been a huge plague of
jellyfish all along the coast of Southern Spain. Thousands of these slimy
creatures were infesting the water and covering the beaches, mainly small ones
but also some with tentacles as long as 10 metres. Bad news for tourism! The
big question was – where had they all come from?
Here are the two most popular explanations
I’ve heard: 1) it was the fault of global warming; 2) bad luck was blamed. Yet
neither global warming nor bad luck are responsible for the sudden and
unprecedented invasion. Higher water temperatures certainly don’t help, but the
main reason for the dilemma is a different one – lacking competition! Take the
natural predators of any species away and they will multiply without control.
Just look at us humans! It’s like a cancer, an eco system out of balance.
The biggest enemies of the jellyfish are
sea turtles and tuna. I don’t know about turtles in the Mediterranean, but I do
know that over 90% of all tuna have disappeared from the sea in Southern Europe
in recent years. Coincidence?
We’ve decided to consume all tuna and now
there’s noone left to eat the jellyfish and keep the tourists happy. Bad
weather and bad luck are blamed for our spoilt vacation, when really it’s our
greedy and unsustainable way of living which makes swimming impossible. What
goes around, comes around. Cause and effect. Simple.
A few days ago a friend of mine went out
with some local fishermen to spend a night at sea. He left with excitement and
returned depressed. Large quantities of fish were caught, but only the ones
which had a high market value were kept. All the others were thrown back into
the water, dead. Common practice, he was told. To make things worse, when my
friend asked where to put the plastic rubbish from the food he had brought,
well, guess which bin he was directed to? Yep, the big blue one right next to
the boat.
So let’s get this straight: We take all the
nice stuff from the sea to get cheap and tasty protein and we return dead fish
and plastic, and then we complain about evil jellyfish invading the coast...
Seriously, if I was Mother Nature I’d make those jellyfish walk so they’d
invade the land too!
Here’s a question: Who is buying the fish?
I wonder… When will we finally learn that
we can’t keep on blaming others for our problems? Not the weather, not the
neighbour, not God and not even politicians and bankers. It’s us! All of our
actions influence our daily reality. Every time we consume something, we decide
what kind of world we want to live in. And considering that we have free
choice, we therefore also carry the full responsibility for our decisions. As
Nina Simone has said: “If I die and my soul be lost, nobody’s fault but
mine!”
What world do you want to live in?
With, or without jellyfish on the beach?
It’s our choice. Every day!
Ach, wie treffend geschrieben.
ReplyDeleteIch bin so sehr deiner Meinung...
Mit einem Gruß,
Barbara